Factory farms

Fueling Resistance? Antibiotics in Ethanol Production

Introduction The epidemic of antibiotic resistance globally poses a severe threat to human and animal health. Deaths and infections caused by “superbugs,” which are unresponsive to treatment with multiple antibiotics, are the human face of this problem.

Group Letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg on Antibiotic-Resistant Microorganisms

The steering committee of Keep Antibiotics Working met with FDA Commissioner Dr, Margaret Hamburg to discuss the Food and Drug Administration’s response to the urgent and growing crisis of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.This letter was sent after after the meeting as a review and to further specific points covered in the meeting.

Assessing the Full Cost of CAFOs

What do the worldwide epidemics of the new swine flu and MRSA have in common? Both are connected to swine. And for years public health leaders have been calling for changes to animal agriculture that could help prevent them.

Group Letter to FDA Requesting Immediate Action on Cephalosporins

Group letter to the FDA requesting asking immediate action addressing the risks to human and animal health resulting from the inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs in food producing animals by:         1) Making a final decision against the approval of cefquinome for use in food-producing animals,

Saving Antibiotics

You may have read New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's frightening story about small-town doctor Tom Anderson and his subsequent column on the connection between confined, industrial hog farming and the presence of methicill

Smart Guide to Minnesota Dairy Without rBGH

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) was one of the first genetically engineered agriculture products and is a synthetic hormone given to dairy cows to force increased milk production. It can also cause udder infections leading to increased antibiotic use. rBGH also raises the levels of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) in cows and cow's milk.

Penicillin in Peril

The reckless use in animals of tried-and-true human antibiotics has contributed to the development of serious antibiotic-resistant human disease. The most straightforward way to address resistant diseases such as CA-MRSA is to curb unnecessary use of all antibiotics important to human medicine in U.S. livestock operations, including penicillin and tetracycline.

Bush Administration Prioritizes Trade Over Food Safety

The Bush Administration's Interagency Working Group (IWG) is pushing a flawed food safety system that prioritizes trade considerations over public health. Many of the IWG's recommendations and actions are designed to reduce import inspection and testing and instead emphasize safety certification of foreign import facilities.

Antibiotic Resistance: The Unwelcome Guest at Your Holiday Dinner

As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to an important part of these celebrations - food, and in particular, turkey. We may also wish to consider the health and environmental impacts of how the meat for our holiday is raised.

Clinton campaign responds to huge beef recall

Senator Hillary Clinton has responded to the animal abuse at the Hallmark/Westland slaughter house and a subsequent recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef, much of it already consumed by school children. The response reflects just how difficult it is to propose policy while responding on the campaign trail to widely publicized events.