The use of antibiotic use in livestock that eventually becomes food on your table is a hot topic. It's gotten even hotter after a recent story by Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News. The story claims large factory farms add antibiotics to animal feed to promote growth.
Some say those antibiotics breed germs that are more drug-resistant...others say there's no proof.
We talked to some local farmers who say *you* are not getting the whole story.
David Dedert has been raising hogs for 25 years. He says farmers use antibiotics cautiously. What's more, all medications he gives to his animals are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Are these drugs safe?
Dedert said, "These drugs are very safe. These are all FDA-approved drugs. We wouldn't use them if they didn't approve them. The FDA does do studies to make sure that nothing resistant gets through. We use antibiotics on them very judiciously. Just like if a lady has a sick child, if our animal is sick, we treat it."
Trevor Toland has raised cattle near Macomb for 40 years.
Toland said, "You definitely wouldn't use an antibiotic indiscriminately. One, it's not economic to do so, because they're very expensive and it's not necessary. The only time you need an antibiotic is when your vaccines fail and you have an emergency."
Toland says not only do farmers use drugs *only* on an as-needed basis, there are strict FDA guidelines to ensure those drugs are completely out of the animal's system before they ever head to a slaughterhouse. In fact, he says his paycheck depends on it.
Toland said, "Any drug used in an animal has a withdrawal time. So if a producer, for example, was to sell the animal before the withdrawal time was up, and residue is detected at the plant, that carcass would be condemned and the producer would get zero from that. So we have very strict withdrawal times to honor and the veterinarian would ask you that right off, "when is this animal going to be marketed?"
These farmers say there's one important point being ignored throughout the public discussion since Couric's report aired. They say there are many federal safeguards put into place to make sure your food is safe and healthy....before allowing it onto grocery market shelves.
We also talked with a representative from the Food and Drug Administration. He told us Katie Couric had to issue a retraction because of some inaccurate statements wrongly attributed to the FDA.
He did tell us the FDA does not oppose the legitimate use of antibiotics in the use of treating sick animals. The spokesperson says the feds have been looking into the *possibility* that overuse of antibiotics in livestock feed could lead to more resistant microorganisms. But he says there's much more scientific study to be done.
Find the statements from the Food and Drug Administration for yourself on these links.
Testimony of Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm171715.htm
Guidance for industry
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM052519.pdf
Institute of Medicine report from 1998, still cited by many:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=6121
A framework for searching for congressional activities
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdOKFp::|/bss/111search.html
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA