Industrial Livestock

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.

Group Letter to FDA re: U.S. Livestock May Be Reservoir for MRSA

Comment to FDA expressing concerns that the agency is not pursuing the likelihood that U.S. livestock operations are a reservoir for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the FDA is not responding to NARMS data indicating the emergence in the United States of Enterobacteriaceae resistant to cephalosporins.

MRSA and Animal Antibiotic Use

A new study published in the scientific journal Veterinary Microbiology should cause the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take notice. The study's findings suggest the agency might start looking at confined hog operations as a possible source for the deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA).