Recorded presentation

David B. Wallinga, MD, MPA, Food and Health Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2105 First Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55404, 612-870-3418, dwallinga@iatp.org

Bacterial infections are increasingly resistant to treatment with antibiotics. This presents a global public health crisis. Antibiotic overuse is a key factor. The emerging scientific consensus is routine antibiotic use in animal feeds contributes to increasing antibiotic resistance transmitted to humans, typically (although not exclusively) via contaminated food. By some estimates, 13 million pounds of antibiotics used in animal agriculture each year are "medically important" – identical or closely related to antibiotics used in human medicine -- more than 4 times the total amount used to treat humans. Retail poultry and ground meat products routinely are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, a significant percentage of which are resistant to one or multiple antibiotics, several studies suggest. Retail poultry produced organically or without antibiotics tend to carry lower levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, some studies have shown. Responding to concerns around the contribution of antibiotic overuse in animal agriculture to overall resistance to human antibiotics, some meat retailers have begun to alter their meat purchasing policies. In the last year McDonald's Corporation and Bon Appétit have both announced policies for buying meat preferentially from suppliers using no or reduced medically important antibiotics in animal feed. McDonald's poultry suppliers include Tyson's, the nation's largest chicken producer. Bon Appétit provides food services to corporations, universities and other clients in 21 states. There are compelling food safety, as well as public health, reasons for hospitals and households to apply criteria to their meat purchases at least as strict as are McDonald's. Some hospitals have begun to do so.

Learning Objectives: Following the presentation, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Discuss how routine antibiotic use in livestock or poultry affects the carriage on meat of drug resistant bacteria.
• List major food retailers now requiring meats produced with reduced levels of routine antibiotics.
• Describe specific policies implementable today for buying meat produced without routine antibiotics
• Discuss benefits to a hospital, its workers, and surrounding community, from enacting such policies.

Keywords: Environment, Food and Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation