This is thought to be the best thing the US can do, especially with Trump’s business executives about to take over. But researchers already know that a growth ban will not be enough. They already had an example of why it would not work: A few years ago, the Dutch government realized that, despite the EU ban in 2006, the sale of antibiotics to Dutch farms continued to rise. Research by experts working with regulatory agencies has shown that companies selling antibiotics in the Netherlands have changed notes on growth advocates to “enforce restrictions” to evade the new law.
This seems to be the case in the US. One method of using antibiotics was banned, so the manufacturers found an alternative. “There was a significant increase in ‘natural’ consumption after promoting economic growth,” says Lance Price, a naturalist and professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health and senior founder of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center. “It was very similar to what happened in the Netherlands, where they just changed what they call it.”
New federal data has one bright spot. A 2020 report shows that of the total number of antibiotics sold for agricultural use, poultry farming – the most widely consumed meat in the US – is only 2 percent medicinal. This compares with 41 percent of all beef and pork, and 12 percent of turkeys. Represents a complete conversion for U.S. poultry companies that started in 2014, when Perdue Foods, the country’s fourth largest producer, announced that it was to do all his work without antibiotics.
Wellington states: “Only about 1 percent of poultry chickens in the United States are exposed to pesticides. “And more than half said, ‘There is no antibiotic.’ That’s incredible. But it does mean that we did not work to raise pigs or cattle. ”
In 2018, the year following the ban on growth, the FDA announced it was launching it 5-year plan to further improve the use of antibiotics on farms. But progress has been delayed. In June, the council introduced new regulations that could re-establish the remaining drugs – minimal injections and pesticides – as the only drugs.
Demonstrators are impatient for the organization to do more. An an open letter written by researchers published earlier this year, asking Biden officials to take immediate action, did not respond. That’s why promoters are looking at small changes that they feel are appropriate for the FDA to make: more regulations, especially on. how long to use antibiotics in any animal or cattle, and to collect a lot of data that can help better understand how antibiotics are being misused. Annual reports that follow the resistance of bacteria derived from humans and animals, and comparing what they sell and use, are a trend in the EU. In the US, there are no complete reports like this.
“First, if the FDA had actually done what it wanted in 2017, we would have known a lot — that is, instead of just giving a sales report, the sales report is a figure that shows the size of the animal,” said David Wallinga, a physician. is a senior at NRDC and coauthor of FDA data analysis. “This is what they have been doing in Europe since 2010. And the second thing is to collect data on a farm that uses pesticides.”