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FDA calls antibiotic use in farming 'a serious public health risk'
The overuse of antibiotics in farming may have significant health consequences for consumers, according to testimony from the Food and Drug Administration. Now lawmakers are looking to curb the use of antibiotics in raising livestock, a move that puts them at odds with agribusiness interests.
A bill introduced by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) would prohibit seven types of antibiotics from being used indiscriminately in animal feed, a practice that has been linked to increased antibiotic resistance in humans. While the legislation is unlikely to become law this year, the bill already has 113 cosponsors and supporters have vowed to continue the fight.
"We must do more to tackle this piece of the antibiotic resistance puzzle," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said this week during the hearing on Slaughter's bill. "And we must do so as part of a comprehensive strategy designed to safeguard the vitally important public health tool that is our antibiotics. It is critical that we encourage the development of new drugs, but it is also essential to preserve the antibiotics we already have. That means we must move expeditiously to slow the advancement of antibiotic resistance in both humans and animals."