FDA

Shorter is Better Is Not Just for Human Antibiotics

MADELEINE KLEVEN , PROJECT ASSISTANT, FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM AT FOOD ANIMAL CONCERNS TRUST

 FDA allows some medically important antibiotics to be used for the whole life of the animals receiving them.  This creates an increased risk of antibiotic resistance which can harm human and animal health. In 2016, FDA proposed adding limits on how long an antibiotic could be used in food animals. FDA must move forward with this proposal and in doing so make sure that durations are short enough to lower the risk of resistance and other negative side effects.  Evidence from human medicine shows that using antibiotics for shorter periods or durations usually works just as well and leads to less resistance and other side effects. Read further to learn more.

FDA Five-year Plan on Antibiotics Falls Short

Steven Roach, Food Safety Program Director, Food Animal Concerns Trust

On September 14, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) released a Five-Year Action Plan to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance by reducing antibiotic overuse on the farm. While it is great that FDA continues to recognize the problem and take steps to address it, the plan does not do enough and does not include concrete goals for success. With the world on the brink of a post-antibiotic era where routine infection will once again kill and the threat of infection makes routine surgery dangerous, the FDA needs to do much more.

All Hands on Deck!

New report highlights the critical role of state and local antibiotics initiatives

Thomas Gremillion, Director, Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America

In a more perfect world, the United States would rival trading partners like Denmark and the Netherlands in developing national policies to curtail animal antibiotic use. In reality, recent federal reforms have yet to yield reductions in use, and public health authorities continue to operate without the most rudimentary data on which drugs are going to which animals.

Keep Antibiotics Working is staffed by Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT). Learn more at www.foodanimalconcernstrust.org.