Antibiotics in Food
Have you ever wondered what you would do if there would be no
medications? Did you ever think that salmonella could be a deadly disease
because of the food you consumed? Not many people think this commonly appearing
and harmless disease might be a hazard to
public health. In the era of new technology that allow for the treatment of such
serious diseases as cancer or AIDS, people ignore the growing number of
mortality caused due to increased resistance to the antibiotics. While increasing presence of antibiotic resistance attracted the
attention of scientists around the world, I would like focus on antibiotic
overuse in food industry that contributing to spreading of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria among people. I would like to prove that we should not consume food products
made from animals routinely fed with antibiotics because they have negative effects on humans.
Both humans and animals have
millions of bacteria existing inside and outside their bodies. These useful
bacteria help get rid of microorganisms that cause diseases, but they also
support digestive system. When people use antibiotics they kill bad bacteria,
but they also kill huge amount of beneficial bacteria. If during the antibiotic
therapy, there are even few bacteria that are resistant to administrated medication
they will outlast in the human or animal body. The resistant bacteria that
survived can multiply, “share the mutation or the gene causing resistance with
other bacteria” (Shlaes 16). The bacteria might be intrinsically
resistant toward certain antibiotic, but some bacteria acquire resistance
through DNA changes or DNA transfer from other bacteria that is already
antibiotic-resistant to one or more antibiotics (Verraes 2646). People infected by resistant bacteria that should kill or stop division of
infectious cells cannot efficiently fight infections caused by these germs.In
general, antibiotic resistance means overuse or misuse of antibiotics that
cause formation of microorganisms resistant to the activity of antibiotics
which impede treatment of even common infections .
Widespread of antibiotic resistance caused that many health organizations
such as World Health Organization (WHO) or Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) released reports about
dangers associated with antibiotics overuse in food industry to non-therapeutic
purposes that affect humans’ health. In 2011, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved 17 drugs classes which all together include 40 antimicrobials drugs
for use in food-producing animals (4).It is also alarming that these medications
include “the same antibiotics or classes of antibiotics that
are used in human medicine(Love 279). Moreover,
CDC estimated that antibiotics used in agriculture constitute 80 percent of all
antibiotics approved for sale in USA (Concerns Over…).The current economic situation force food producing companies to lower
their operating costs and to increase their output. To
cope with market expectations food industry began to use antibiotics contrary
to original specifications. There are two
main purposes of antibiotic use in agriculture which include therapeutic and
non-therapeutic purposes. Therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal husbandry
include veterinary intervention aimed at sick animals and “prophylaxis
for animals at high risk of disease”( Garnter 12). Medicinal use of antibiotics administrated to sick
animals is designed to fight infections that might spread on the whole
population of animals in the plant. Prevention of diseases among farm animals
is another reason why food-producing companies commonly use antibiotics. Most
factory farms are squeezed in small spaces which conductive to spread of
bacteria. For example, “a single barn from a large hog-production facility can
hold 2,000 or more pigs, creating ideal conditions for”( What's In...45) infections.
To avoid unnecessary expenses related to the treatment of ill
animals food companies apply routinely small doses of antibiotics to farm
animals. Prophylactic use of antibiotics aims to reduce the risk diseases among animals.
Nevertheless, non-therapeutic use of
antibiotics in animals’ husbandry raises concerns around the world because
overuse of these medications involves humans’ additional and unnecessary
consumption of medically active substances. Non- therapeutic use of antibiotics
means that healthy animals receive antibiotics with their food or as injections
for growth promotion(Love 279). First “antimicrobial growth promotants ”(Marshall) used for the animals’ growth were
discovered in the mid 50’s of the twentieth century (Marshall).
As Stohestad says, food industry disclosed that small doses of antibiotics such
as penicillin given in feed increase the weight of animals (Marshll). Currently,
medications used in animal productions “increase the efficiency of particular
phase of life, increase the rate of weight gain, improve feed efficiency, or
enhance milk production” (Love 279). For example, around 40% of beef calves
receive medications “to prevent liver abscesses that negatively impact
growth” . Moreover, almost 90% of U.S. swine get feed containing antibiotics
such as that promote animals’ growth (Landers, 6). Terrifying is also that most antibiotics added to animal feed are difficult to determine because
no one verify how much antibiotics food-producing animals consume. Most plants
are designed that animals eat food from large containers together with other
animals, whenever they want and as much as they want (Love 279). Additionally, it is disturbing that farms
employees determine the use of feed containing antibiotics, although antibiotic
that are used in livestock producing require veterinary prescriptions (Love
280).Unfortunately for animal food consumers who consume additional amounts of
antibiotics in their food , meat industry belittle this lack of
data regarding antibiotics use in their facilities because of financial
benefits which gives them overuse of antibiotics in food- producing animals.
Feeding
animals with antibiotics leads to another problem that threatening public
health. WHO alarming that overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics in
animals husbandry cause spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and gens from animals to humans (Antimicrobial resistance…59). Routine use of antibiotics in livestock
productions is a perfect ground for development of microorganisms resistant to active
antibiotics ingredients. According to Shlaes, antibiotic resistant bacteria contain
DNA sections resistant to multiple antibiotics, and these sections might move
from one system to another (19). Antibiotic- resistant bacteria from food
products are danger for humans because they are easily transferable. They
might exist in “the digestive system of humans and animals, as well as in food”
(Varraes 2646), so they spread imperceptibly even by direct
consumption of food that do not reacquire processing. The transfer of resistant
bacteria might occur both by direct contact with infected products and
consumption. However, raw products are not the only threat for public health because
inappropriate cooking or storage also causes transfer of antibiotic resistant
bacteria. One of the studies concerning antibiotic resistance “showed
that drug-resistant Escherichia coli was
present on beef carcasses after evisceration and after 24 hour in the chiller
and in ground beef stored for 1 to 8 days” (Marshall).The article What's
In That Pork? presents another test results of 148 pork
chops samples and 50 samples of ground pork collected form brand American
stores. About 70 % of testes samples were contaminated by bacteria that cause many
health complaints such as diarrhea. Moreover, some analyzed
bacteria were resistant to antibiotics used to cure humans (44). People should
realize that food companies use huge amounts of antibiotics in their facilities which
increase presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food that ultimately end
on our plates.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
prevalent in food have direct impact on humans’ because they affects two most
important aspects of people’s lives: health and their economic situation. Overuse
of antibiotics in factory farming cause that bacteria which people consume with
food become resistant to more and more antibiotics used to
treat humans’ diseases. A few years ago, the U.S. outbreak of Salmonella was
responsible for hospitalization of many people, and 10% of infected patients
died. The problem with the treatment of these Salmonella strains was related to
antibiotics used in factory farming to which this germs were resistant. To
treat patients infected with these bacteria we have only one class of
antibiotics that can fight this infection (Shlaes 17). Another time, the FDA
revealed that almost “half of Salmonella
isolated from chicken breasts were resistant to three or more classes of
antibiotics and more than 30% were resistant to five or more classes of
antimicrobials” (Wang 253). These analyses confirm that
emerging presence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in food constitute a real threat to human health. The
more multi-resistant bacteria we have in our environment the more antibiotics lose
their therapeutic effects, so the greater number of people is threatened by
diseases or even death.
The
second reason why we should not consume food containing antibiotics are rising medical
costs associated with the treatment
and prevention of diseases caused by
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to CDC, “in the United States,
antibiotic resistance adds $20 billion in excess direct health care costs, with
additional costs to society for lost productivity as high as $35 billion a
year”( http://www.cdc.gov).
To these costs come expenses on the development of new antibiotics
that will combat multi-resistant infections. The article from New York Times
reports, the Health and Human Service Department signed an agreement with
pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, that include $40
million for development of new drugs (Meier, “Pressure grows…”). It is
necessary to find new medications that can be used in human medicine because
most current antibiotics lost their effectiveness in the treatment of many so far common
diseases.
Most
people do not pay attention that meat they buy for their weekend barbecue come
from farm that routinely feeds healthy animals
with antibiotics. We should not allow for unnecessary exposure to medically
active substances and antibiotic-resistant bacteria of animal origin because
they have negative effect on our health and economy. As a individuals
and as a society we can make conscious consumer decisions. To
influence the unethical actions of food manufacturers
we should chose food from organic farms that do not use antibiotics, and we
should always check the labels that confirm no antibiotics in the products we
buy. We can also impact on our legislation by placing a petition in the
governmental website “We the people” where we can fight for stringent regulations against
antibiotics used in animal agriculture. We say “no” to antibiotics in our food to
protect ourselves and future generation from destructive action
of food industry.
Work Cited
"Concerns
Over Antibiotics In Meats." Environmental Nutrition 37.3 (2014): 3.
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Food and Drug Administration Department. 2011 Summary Report On Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use
in Food-Producing Animals. 2011. PDF file.
Landers,
Timothy F, Cohen, Bevin.,et al. "A Review Of Antibiotic Use In Food
Animals: Perspective, Policy, And Potential." Public Health Reports
(Washington, D.C.: 1974) 27.1 (2012): 4-22. Medline with Full Text.Web.
19 May 2014
Love,
David C., et al. "Dose Imprecision And Resistance: Free-Choice Medicated
Feeds In Industrial Food Animal Production In The United States." Environmental
Health Perspectives 119.3 (2011): 279-283. MEDLINE with Full Text.Web.
19 May 2014.
Marshall,
Bonnie M, and Stuart B Levy. "Food Animals and Antimicrobials: Impacts On Human
Health."Clinical Microbiology Reviews 24.4 (2011): 718-733. MEDLINE
with Full Text.Web. 15 May 2014.
Meier, Barry. “Pressure
Grows to Create Drugs for ‘Superbugs’”. The
New York Times, 3 June 2013, The New
York Times. Web. 21 May 2014
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David M., Antibiotic. The Perfect Storm,
New York: Springer, 2010
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Sabrina. “Antibiotic-Resistant
Infections Lead to 23,000 Deaths a Year, C.D.C. Finds”. The New York Times,
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Food Chain: A Review."International Journal Of Environmental
Research And Public Health 10.7 (2013): 2643-2669. Medline with Full
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Wang,
H, McEntire, J.C., et al. "The Transfer Of Antibiotic Resistance From Food
To Humans: Facts,Implications And Future Directions." Revue
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249-260. MEDLINE with Full Text.Web. 19May 2014.
"What's
In That Pork? We Found Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria--And Traces Of A
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with Full Text.Web. 13 May 2014.
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Health Organization.The evolving threat
of antimicrobial resistance: options for action. Geneva, 2012. PDF file.
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WHO
Regional Office for Europe.Expert Consultation on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Copenhagen, 2011.PDF file.
