FDA violates law by refusing to ban antibiotics from use in animal feed

Monday, November 14, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: antibiotics, animal feed, health news

(NaturalNews) Earlier in the year, several concerned groups sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to address the issue of antibiotic use in animal feed (https://www.naturalnews.com/032824_antibiotic...). Though numerous studies have found that adding antibiotics to animal feed undeniably causes antibiotic resistance, including an FDA study from 1977, the agency insists that banning the practice is too difficult.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) all agree that using penicillin and tetracyclines (antibiotics used to treat humans) in animal feed to bulk animals up and cause them grow faster is an unacceptable threat to public health. But the FDA apparently does not agree, as it claims that implementing any sort of ban will be "too expensive and resource intensive," according to a FACT press release.

The FDA stated in its response to the lawsuit that, rather than forcibly restrict the use of antibiotics, the agency will instead allow drug companies to continue "self-regulating" themselves. In other words, it is just more business as usual at the taxpayer-funded Big Pharma agency that looks out for special interests rather than the interests of the people.

"Instead of adhering to its mission to protect consumers, the FDA is waiting for the drug companies to voluntarily do what the agency is legally mandated to do," said FACT's Public Health Program Director Steven Roach. "There is absolutely no reason to believe that drug companies will voluntarily reduce sales of antibiotics and act against their own financial self-interest. Without reductions in antibiotics used it is impossible for there to be any public health benefit."

It only makes sense that the agency tasked with protecting public health would be expected to step up to the plate and restrict antibiotic use in animals except in cases of actual illness. But the FDA works for a different boss, and few in the American public seem to care that this rogue traitor continues to pad its pockets at the expense of their health.

Not only do antibiotics cause animals to become obese and ill (https://www.naturalnews.com/030938_antibiotic...), but they also cause serious health problems in those at eat meat produced from such animals. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) even admitted back in 2010 that antibiotic use in livestock is a serious threat to human health (https://www.naturalnews.com/029337_antibiotic...).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-...