Healthy chickens, pigs, and beef cattle raised on industrial farms are routinely fed antibiotics to make them grow faster and compensate for overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions.
This practice can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans.
Antibiotics are vital tools used to treat scores of human illnesses, but drug-resistance is on the rise.
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics on industrial farms creates stronger and more drug-resistant bacteria, also known as "superbugs." And, when these superbugs are acquired by humans through contaminated meat, direct contact with animals, or the environment, the results can be tragic.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are cropping up throughout the country causing serious, painful illnesses and even death in vulnerable individuals such as children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems, as well as in healthy people.
Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may weaken a regulation and make it even easier for agribusiness to feed antibiotics to healthy livestock and poultry, putting our health at greater risk. In addition, a recent FDA directive on antibiotics in food animal production only called for voluntary measures to curb usage by agribusiness.
We don’t need more unenforceable recommendations. Now is the time for definitive action forcing agribusiness to end the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.
Tell the FDA and White House to Stand Up for Human Health by Limiting Antibiotic Use in Animal Feed!