"The rise of drug-resistant infections in humans has been linked to the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed since the early 1970s, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has failed to meet its legal responsibility to address the mounting health threat posed by the practice, according to a suit filed by a coalition of concerned health and consumer organizations today," according to the NRDC. The FDA has also ignored citizen petitions which have asked for a reduction in antibiotics that are widely used in human medicine. They are legally required to address these concerns, and they have refused.
Denmark banned the use of growth antibiotics in chicken and pork in 1998. The evidence shows that there is a sustained decrease in the overall amount of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and livestock production has actually increased. Antibiotics are necessary for life-threatening illnesses, and if the over drugging of the food supply continues, they may not be there when we really need them.
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