Wellness Wednesday

According to Mother Jones, the FDA just gave another reason for those who eat commercially-raised meat to look to local farms - antibiotics. Non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in commercial meat operations is widespread. Big Ag discovered a side effect of antibiotics - it makes animals grow faster and larger - and therefore began pumping them into animals raised for food. While the FDA has pushed for the elimination of non-therapeutic doses of antibiotics in animals, they have allowed industrial operations to continue using them to "prevent" disease, which really has no definition and allows cattle, pig, and chicken operations to continue as they always have.

The article points out that most of the antibiotics used for animals are extremely important for the treatment of human infections. Since over 70% of the antibiotics used in the US go to animals, we're paving the way for more antibiotic-resistant pathogens. 

Here' a snapshot of how humans are affected:

Source

About 23,000 Americans die each year from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Yet the FDA makes the requirement to eliminate the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in animal agriculture "voluntary." Avoid some of the dangers by purchasing local meat from reputable farmers that use chemical-free practices and only use antibiotics as for their intended purpose - on sick animals. (And if a farmer starts having large numbers of sick animals, that farmer needs to re-think his or her agricultural practices.)