Tag Archives: antibiotics

McDonald’s kept its promise to use fewer antibiotics

by EdisonNeild7936 Posted on August 2, 2016

Nugget of Truth

McDonald’s kept its promise to use fewer antibiotics

By on Aug 2, 2016Share

McDonald’s may give us false hope when it comes to the Gaelic sorcery that lurks in its Shamrock Shakes, but the fast food chain just made good on a more important promise. Last year, the home of the Hamburglar announced a plan to stop buying chicken served in its U.S. restaurants from farmers that use antibiotics prescribed to humans. Groups that campaign against the overuse of antibiotics, like the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Pew Charitable Trusts are applauding McDonald’s for reaching the milestone ahead of its own deadline.

A move like this — especially made by an oft-maligned fast food giant — really matters. The more we use antibiotics, the more germs evolve to resist them. Human use of antibiotics is the biggest cause of antimicrobial-resistant diseases, but there’s good evidence that agricultural use of antibiotics can contribute to the problem as well.

The spring of 2015 was a tipping point for corporate pledges: Around that time, just about every U.S. food company that uses poultry (with one defiant exception) made a commitment to stop using antibiotics that are important for human medicine. If you wondered if a corporation like McDonald’s can stick to a pledge, now you know: Reform is possible.

Of course, this doesn’t fix the problem entirely — these pledges apply to the United States, but antibiotic resistance knows no borders. And because we continue to spur the evolution of resistance every time we prescribe antibiotics to humans, we must invent alternatives. To paraphrase words of the great philosopher and space pirate, Mark Watney: In the face of overwhelming odds, we are left with only one option. We’re going to have to science the shit out of this.

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McDonald’s kept its promise to use fewer antibiotics

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Antibiotics Are No Longer Making Pigs Bigger

by RosauraStegall Posted on March 10, 2015

Mother Jones

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For decades, it’s been thought that low, regular doses of antibiotics help livestock grow big—thus increasing meat producers’ profits. So common is the practice of lacing farm animals’ feed with the drugs that an astonishing four-fifths of all antibiotics in the United States now go to livestock.

But a new meta-analysis by two Princeton researchers shows that antibiotics aren’t as effective at promoting growth as they used to be. Studies from 1950-1985 suggested that antibiotics increased weight of young pigs by an average of about 17 older pigs by 4 percent. But similar studies since 2000 found much less dramatic results: 1 percent increase for young pigs and no measurable increase for older pigs.

No one knows why the drugs have become less effective—and in fact, there’s no consensus on how exactly antibiotics increased growth in animals to begin with. One theory is that the drugs fight low-level infections, which allows the animal to use its energy for growing instead of warding off germs. The authors of the new analysis theorize that as hygiene at livestock operations improve, the rate of infections might be decreasing, thus negating the need for antibiotics.

Another (scarier) possibility: Bugs that cause common animal infections are becoming resistant to the antibiotics. The consequences of antibiotic resistance, of course, go far beyond pigs’ rates of growth. As my colleague Tom Philpott has reported, superbugs can jump from animals to humans. Antibiotic-resistant infections already kill 700,000 people every year worldwide. A recent UK report predicted that number will rise to 10 million by 2050.

“If the benefits of antibiotics for animal growth have diminished, then it becomes reasonable to be cautious and avoid the potential public health costs,” write the new report’s authors. “Antibiotics are not needed to promote growth, but they are essential to treat infectious diseases and maintain animal health.”

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Antibiotics Are No Longer Making Pigs Bigger

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80% of Antibiotics in the U.S. Go to Factory Farms

by publik23 Posted on August 7, 2013

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80% of Antibiotics in the U.S. Go to Factory Farms

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