Sunday, April 11, 2010

Antibiotic Resistance

I think it is important that antibiotic use in animal factories is in fact regulated. I actually attempted to look up and research why antibiotic use in animal farms should not be regulated and could not find anything. What I found instead was a facebook page (I know) but it had useful information that is quite recent (February of 2010). The current regulation that is in place is through the FDA or the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA regulates drugs, including antibiotics administered to animals that produce food. The FDA has extensive guidelines about how antibiotics must be used to ensure safety for both people and animals. All antibiotics used to keep animals healthy have been evaluated through a rigorous approval process, have been shown to be safe and effective and have been reviewed for their potential to cause increased antibiotic resistance. Consumers can be confident that this process ensures the safest meat in the world ends up on America’s dinner tables. Yes this sounds too good to be true and maybe it is because the information is coming from an animal farm, but if it is in fact true, then I don't see anything wrong with the legislation that is in place.
I would agree that the use of antibiotics should continue to be regulated and consumers have the right to know whether the product they are buying has been exposed to antibiotics. I don't feel, however, that the use of antibiotics in animal farms needs to be stopped. If it is true that in fact cooking kills all antibiotic resistant microorganisms, than I feel that it is the consumers responsibility and that point and the the providers. So should antibiotic use in animal farms be regulated? Yes. Do consumers have the right to know what their meat has been exposed to? Absolutely. Is the current legislation that is in place through the FDA currently enough? I think so yes. If antibiotic resistant bacteria is eliminated when cooked properly are we safe? We should be yes.

1 comment:

  1. You have a good point that the consumer has some responsibility and power too. Besides our responsibility to cook our food properly after we take it home, but we have some power to vote with our wallets before we take it home. Seems insignificant, but our vote at the super store probably counts more than our vote in the presidential election (percentage wise, not sure which issue is more important). Don't mind the antibiotics so much either, but I like to know what's in there too.

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