Antibiotic Resistance

The use of antibiotics in chicken farming and other animal agriculture can speed the development and spread of resistant bacteria.

Huge amounts of antibiotics are fed to animals at industrial-scale farms - not to treat disease but rather to promote faster growth and to compensate for stressful, crowded conditions.

The massive use of antibiotics in animal agriculture helps speed the development and spread of resistant bacteria, so the effectiveness of many life-saving medicines is waning. In response to the growing health threat of antibiotic resistance, Environmental Defense submitted a petition to the Food and Drug Administration, asking the agency to ban the use of medically important antibiotics as feed additives for chickens, hogs and beef cattle, on the ground that such use is inconsistent with FDA's own explicit safety criteria. We also developed county-by-county estimates of the quantities of antibiotics used as feed additives.

Public policy

• Citizen Petition to FDA Seeks Withdrawal of Approvals of Antibiotic Feed Additives (4/7/05)
• FDA Issues Guidance on Evaluating the Safety of Antimicrobial New Animal Drugs to Help Prevent Creating New Resistant Bacteria (10/23/03)
• Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2005 (Summary of Legislation)

Meat-buyer policies

• "Taking a Bite Out of Antibiotic Use in Pork" - Compass Group, the world's 12th largest employer, unveils a purchasing policy that curbs antibiotic use in hog and chicken production.
• McDonald's Announces New Policy Requiring Meat Suppliers to Reduce Antibiotic Use (6/18/03)
• Bon Appétit Antibiotics Policy - The major culinary company Bon Appétit is committed to helping address the public health threat from antibiotic resistance. (More on our work with Bon Appétit.)
• Health Care Without Harm Policy - HCWH, a coalition of health-care facilities and other organizations, has adopted policies aimed at reducing antibiotic use in food production.

Posted: 23-Sep-2009; Updated: 09-Aug-2007