Though good for the human body, antibiotics have no place in commercial meat, according to a new study by Tufts Professor Dr. Sherwood Gorbach.
Gorbach brought international attention to the use of antibiotics in the meat industry in a New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) editorial last week. NEJM released three studies demonstrating that new strands of salmonella are the result of feeding healthy animals unnecessary antibiotics.
Gorbach said that the overmedication of healthy animals is responsible for creating stronger strains of common diseases found in meats, such as salmonella, which cause great public health risks. Gorbach, who studied bacteria for over 30 years, says that the practice "should be eliminated from the [meat] industry."
In his editorial, Gorbach called for tighter governmental controls on the use of antibiotic with cattle, hogs, and poultry. "These drugs have been banned in Europe and the time has come for us to do the same," said Gorbach, who is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) - an international organization engaged in the preservation of the power of antibiotics.
Although many veterinarians say that antibiotics protect herds from virulent strains of disease, Gorbach says the process is not beneficial. "There are alternatives, as shown in Europe, after the use of these drugs was abandoned," Gorbach told the Daily. Policies enacted several years ago in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, and Denmark prohibit the use of the controversial antibiotics that Gorbach says create stronger strains of bacteria.
"The economic losses could be minimized and even neutralized by improvements in animal husbandry, the quality of feed, and hygiene," he wrote.
The drugs are particularly dangerous, Gorbach says, because they are often administered without a veterinarian's consultation. While the practice aids animal growth and prevents infection, it also ensures that all animals get the medicine, regardless of whether they are sick. Over time, he wrote, "the use of antimicrobials in food animals selects for resistant strains and enhances their persistence in the environment."
In a press release, Gorbach said that the "drug resistance in salmonella and campylobacter can increase the frequency and severity of infections with such organisms, limit treatment options, and raise health care costs."
According to the FDA, there are an estimated two to four million cases of salmonella in the US each year, and the incidence of salmonellosis appears to be on the rise. According to the same report, AIDS patients are especially susceptible to salmonella, and they contract the disease at 20 times the rate of the general population.
Gorbach has received support from the Union of Concerned Scientists and fellow Tufts' professor Dr. Stuart Levy, president of APUA. The pair has also received support from the World Health Organization.
"This issue has been brewing for 30 years but with current papers and experts [like Gorbach] the case made by the APUA and the Science is stronger than ever," said Levy, who argues that the use of antibiotics in animals will lead to massive public health problems. "This will require government intervention, and the FDA cannot continue to ignore the results of this research," he said.
The APUA will release a comprehensive announcement on their finding in December or January.
