April 11, 2005

US groups petition ban on certain antibiotics as feed additives
 

Five major medical and science groups in the United States have filed a formal regulatory petition with the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw approvals for seven classes of antibiotics in use as feed additives.

The American Association of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, Environmental Defense, Food Animal Concerns Trust, and Union of Concerned Scientists want to alert the agency that these antibiotics as feed additives do not comply with the safety criteria in the FDA's guidance on agricultural antibiotics.

These antibiotics are also used vigorously in human medicine and their addition to animal feed could cause increased resistance to them in the human body.

A bill was launched on April 7 to phase out the use of these drugs as feed additives within two years unless the FDA determines that continued usage would not have an effect on humans.