In case you wish to email your opinion to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
Australia’s policy of restricting antibiotic use in food-producing animals may be linked with lower levels of drug-resistant bacteria found in its citizens…
Campylobacter jejuni is a leading bacterial cause of foodborne illness in industrialized countries. Drug resistance can make Campylobacter infections difficult for physicians to treat, and can result in longer bouts of diarrhea and a higher risk of serious or even fatal illness. Bacterial resistance to drugs is generally attributed to inappropriate prescribing or overuse of antibiotics.
An Australian solution to the drug resistance problem has been to prohibit the use of certain antibiotics, called fluoroquinolones, in food animals such as poultry. Such a policy puts Australia in a relatively unique position, since its animal and food production levels are comparable to those of other industrialized nations, but it has avoided using the antibiotics that have been standard in the other countries’ food animal production.
“There are different causes that lead to bacterial antibiotic resistance, and use of antibiotics in food animals is only one of the multiple causes,” said lead author Leanne Unicomb, an epidemiologist with OzFoodNet and Australia National University. However, the evidence indicates that “use of fluoroquinolones in food animals in other countries has increased the risk of resistance in [Campylobacter] isolates infecting humans,” she said. The researchers concluded that the low drug resistance they found “probably reflects Australia’s policy of prohibiting fluoroquinolones for animal use.”
Drugmakers fought the FDA for five years to stop the banning of fluoroquinolones in poultry. Sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in American beef cattle is estimated at 15-17 million pounds/year. As long as a cow is slaughtered more than 28 days after receiving fluoroquinolones, the FDA says, “Don’t worry, be happy!”
This souldn’t be a suprise to anyone who understands evolution
VERY interesting….
considering Mad cow desease, is equal to canabals the eat the brains of victims..
that they took Hormoes out of MOST of our foods LONG ago, because we were embarased by 12 year old Dolly Parton(s)…
Its been said…
You ARE what you eat…
Does this apply to WHAT is eaten, and THEN eaten…
I have lived in the RURAL areas most of my life…And I DONT THINK you really want to know…
Dairy cattle only have a 5 year life..Being kept pregnant, so that you can get milk from them…And after about 5 years they dry up..Their bodies wont make anymore milk. Hmmm, what to do with ALL that cow??
I wont go into chickens…and the 4 leggers…
Meat, it’s what to eat.
Since I am a vegetarian this doesn’t concern me much. But it is nice to know my country is in the news for doing something right. Now how long until we stuff things up again?
An interesting article, however… companies have been putting anti-biotics in soap and even shampoo for years now. Removing the anti-biotics from the meat, is only a small step.
There was a big scandal of how the Monsanto corporation pushed through one of their drugs that increased milk production years ago despite it being present in the milk supply and the fact that farmers were being paid for fallow dairy-cows even though there was and is an oversupply. Those in the U.S. have been drinking this tainted milk since 2002. Canada wouldn’t allow it. The drug in question (BGH, Bovine Growth Hormone) causes numerous ailments in cows, the least appealing of which is an infection of the udder that creates puss due to infection. A good portion of this puss gets into the milk supply and greatly increases the level of bacteria in it. For further reading on this subject and the cover-up by a FOX affiliate in Florida check out the following:
http://www.foxbghsuit.com/
And for those who would like a more in depth look at this particular situation and the greater problem behind it check out this film:
http://www.thecorporation.com/
And as usual for those with more tech know-how than cash, it is available from various torrent sites as well.
Milk, it’s what’s infested with bacteria and antibiotics that will leave you susceptible to diseases. You probably won’t see that on any billboards or bumper stickers.