
U.S. FDA to phase out some antibiotic use in animal production - brianmartinek
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/fda-antibiotic-idUSL3N0JQ36T20131211
======
CapitalistCartr
The use of antibiotics in food stock should be banned completely. Saving a few
cents per pound on meat isn't worth the damage to our antibiotic stock. Wanna
give antibiotics to an animal, fine, but now it can't be used for food.

~~~
virmundi
It is oddly cruel to see that logic applied in organic meats. An animal might
become infected. It might die a very painful and slow death. But to keep
organic certification, not antibiotic maybe used on the farm.

Even for animal that will become food, I would think that kindness should be
applied. If it is sick/infected, but still useful for meat, cure it and eat
it. If not, just kill it. Don't let it suffer.

~~~
awjr
Organic farmers have approved antibiotics they can use (as well as natural
remedies). If a dairy cow is treated with antibiotics the holding time before
she is allowed back into the milking process is usually double or triple the
normal holding time for a non-organic cow (10-15 days vs 5 days). Sh is still
milked but the milk is poured away.

~~~
cglace
Isn't there something more useful they could do with that milk than pour it
away?

~~~
asciimo
Unfortunately, cow milk is only useful as a human beverage.

~~~
Crito
Or a cow beverage. Could this milk be useful for feeding to calves?

~~~
asciimo
Thanks, Crito. I glad someone else sees the absurdity of drinking another
animal's milk.

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tokenadult
"'Because antimicrobial drug use in both humans and animals can contribute to
the development of antimicrobial resistance, it is important to use these
drugs only when medically necessary,' the FDA said in a release." This is long
overdue. The FDA action is consistent with Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommendations in the United States and with agricultural
regulations in the European Union. We have discussed the science behind this
no-brainer recommendation several times here on Hacker News.[1]

Yes, veterinarians may need to treat animal diseases with antibiotics.
Antibiotics are in several cases "natural" substances that evolved through
natural selection, mycotoxins emitted by fungi, or bacterial toxins emitted by
one clade of bacteria, with the effect of killing bacteria in a world full of
bacteria. The bacteria susceptible to antibiotics, in turn, have long been
under selection pressure to evolve resistance to antiobiotics, as some strains
of bacteria did long ago in the wild. The use of antibiotics in human medicine
has revolutionized several forms of medical treatment and added millions of
years of healthy life to humankind's prospects, but use of antibiotics must go
hand-in-hand with other forms of infection control to minimize selective
sweeps of antibiotic resistance as a trait among most harmful strains of
bacteria. It's a bad trade-off to use antibiotics without veterinary
indications in general animal husbandry, so this regulatory step is a step in
the right direction.

Meanwhile, the already established multiple-drug-resistant strains of
tuberculosis are very worrisome,[2] and will have to be a focus of much
research and urgent public-health campaigns.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6599040](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6599040)

[2]
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230344420...](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303444204577460734274201756)

[http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-06-23/news...](http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-06-23/news/40134749_1_stop-
tb-department-mario-raviglione-jmm-meeting)

[http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Facing-the-Reality-of-
Drug-R...](http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Facing-the-Reality-of-Drug-
Resistant-Tuberculosis-Challenges-and-Potential-Solutions-in-India.aspx)

[http://www.tbcindia.nic.in/pdfs/RNTCP%20Response%20DR%20TB%2...](http://www.tbcindia.nic.in/pdfs/RNTCP%20Response%20DR%20TB%20in%20India%20-%20Jan%202012%20update.pdf)

~~~
marze
Yeah. Not really worth it to make meat 0.6 cents a pound cheaper.

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chaostheory
This guidelines are just voluntary? What's the point?

"'Our fear ... is that there will be no reduction in antibiotic use as
companies will either ignore the plan altogether or simply switch from using
antibiotics for routine growth promotion to using the same antibiotics for
routine disease prevention,' said Steven Roach, senior analyst with advocacy
group Keep Antibiotics Working."

~~~
mronge
My understanding with FDA guidelines is they are always "voluntary" only in
name. Companies effectively have to comply or the FDA will crack down very
hard on the company.

~~~
chaostheory
I really doubt it. The FDA is heavily influenced by whatever administration is
in power and administrations are heavily influenced by lobbyists.

This is why it's a voluntary guideline.

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arbitrage
I hear that the FDA will also be releasing a recommendation to close the barn
door after the cows get out.

You just can't be too careful, you know.

~~~
giarc
You're right, this is long overdue, however hind sight is 20/20 and late is
better than never.

~~~
redblacktree
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago; the second-best time is
now.

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krstck
Consumer demand is actually a pretty effective way to enact change in the food
industry. If you punish the grocery stores and restaurants, the pain will be
felt all the way up the supply chain. Walmart et al. pay very close attention
to consumer demand and they can, and will, strong-arm their suppliers into
complying.

(Edit: This is not to say that there shouldn't also be strict government
regulations as well.)

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lifeisstillgood
For me the big issue is the phrase "animal production".

Not farming, rearing, husbandry, but straight to the point factory industrial
production.

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ck2
How about phasing it out immediately for vegetables and fruits?

Because learning about that has freaked me out for weeks now.

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jeffheard
I think this is when my granddad would say, "A day late and a dollar short."

