January 4, 2021

 

UK public health faces risk from import of US meat from animals given banned antibiotics, report says

 

A report has warned that livestock produced in the United States are administered with antibiotics that are banned in the United Kingdom - a matter of concern since meat from these animals would be imported under post-Brexit trade deals.

 

The development could potentially undermine treatments for infections, cancer and even COVID-19.

 

Bringing such meat into the UK would be a serious setback in the fight against antibiotic resistance, and consuming the meat itself could create a cancer risk, according to the Sustainable Food Trust (SFT.)

 

Those imports would also be "a major slap in the face for British farmers", and it would be "completely irresponsible" to allow them, said Richard Young, the report's author and policy director of the SFT.

 

Called "Maximum Growth: Whatever the Cost," the report concluded simply banning hormone-treated beef and chlorine-washed chicken would not be enough to protect UK consumers if a trade deal is agreed between the UK and the US.

 

The report identified 10 antibiotics banned in the UK that are used to promote animal growth or kill parasites on US factory farms rearing cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys. Widespread routine use creates the ideal conditions for the development of antibiotic resistance, according to Richard Young, the report's author and policy director of the SFT.

 

"In one case (that of carbadox), the principal concern is not antibiotic resistance, but the drug's carcinogenic properties and the potential for residues in pig meat. The [Food and Drug Administration] has been facing strong opposition from the industry for four years over its attempts to ban this antibiotic in pig production," the report said.

 

Carbadox should be banned immediately due to the risk, it urged. 

 

"There are human health concerns about meat produced with each of the products covered in this report. Some are immediate, others are more long-term and relate to the compromising of antibiotics identified as having the potential to treat hospital superbugs, cure cancer and even, in one case, treat COVID-19," the report added.

 

Young also highlighted "long-term antibiotic-resistance concerns" about the other drugs used. 

 

If and when the UK government agrees a free-trade deal with the US, meat is still likely to be on the agenda, although the EU trade deal reduces the urgency for an agreement.

 

The report refers to EU proposals to ban all preventative use of antibiotics in animals from 2022 and to require producers exporting chicken to the EU to do the same, adding: "The UK government accepts that preventative use needs to be reduced, but appears reluctant to go along with this latest, precautionary, move by the EU."

 

- The Independent