US animal group hits back at antibiotics report

 

 

The Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA) in the US is angered by many unsubstantiated claims portrayed as fact in an Associated Press article on the use of antibiotics in livestock.

 

AAA said the report failed to offer a balanced analysis of the complex issue of antibiotic resistance in the US, relying on biased sources to portray US food producers in a negative light.

 

Antibiotics are a judiciously-used tool employed by farmers and ranchers with veterinarian oversight to further their goal of raising healthy animals, AAA says in a press release.

 

US farmers and veterinarians are committed to ensuring the health of their animals and the safety of their products, with antibiotic use in agriculture carefully monitored to provide a healthy, plentiful food supply for all, said Kay Johnson Smith, executive vice president.

 

The AP article quotes an unsubstantiated estimate that 70% of antibiotics used in the US are administered to livestock, but failed to say that nearly half of the total estimated amount is made up of ionophores and other compounds not used in human medicine, said AAA.

 

The article also inaccurately suggests that animal feed is constantly laced with antibiotics, when in reality each antibiotic is administered according to the specifications of a FDA-approved label that clearly indicates the number of doses and duration of use, according to the AAA.

 

The group noted that the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production's 2008 report was cited multiple times in the story, despite its many biased and sensationalised claims.

 

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) have found "significant flaws" within the Pew Commission's report, stating that the group purposefully chose not to incorporate the findings of a significant number of participating scientists.

 

FASS indicated that, while the Commission assumed that all large farms are inherently inhumane, there are many factors that influence animal well-being, including management, feeding systems, environmental features, and animal type.

 

The Animal Agriculture Alliance Coalition provided numerous reports on the topics being considered for the Pew Commission's report, including antibiotic use, but input from the agriculture community was repeatedly ignored.

 

The decision to limit the use of antibiotics in food production should not be taken lightly, AAA said.

 

Dr. Scott Hurd, former Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA, has warned that "decisions made without careful assessments can lead to harmful health risks, as well as unnecessary animal suffering."

 

AAA also said there are evidence from Denmark and The Netherlands that the removal of antimicrobial growth promoters resulted in higher animal death and disease, with little evidence of decreased human antibiotic resistant rates.