Meat Industry Braces
for CBS Antibiotics Series
by Helena Bottemiller
| Feb 08, 2010
Food Safety News by Marler
Meat industry groups are bracing for consumer backlash from
a much-anticipated CBS Evening News series on antibiotic use in food animal
production, scheduled to air this week after experiencing several delays.
The series, scheduled to air Feb. 9 and 10 (6:30 p.m. EST),
is widely expected to be critical of animal antibiotic use, which has led
industry groups to preemptively lobby and organize to prevent momentum for
bills before Congress that would curb antibiotic use in agriculture.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association held a briefing on
Capitol Hill last week to educate staffers and rally opposition to the
bills. Several other industry groups
released talking points and action alerts before the series was scheduled to
air last week.
"You need to contact your lawmakers and urge them not
to support H.R. 1549/S. 619," the National Pork Producers Council told its
members, according to Meatingplace last week. "Reiterate to them that
there's no proof that antibiotic use on farms significantly increases resistant
bacteria in humans and no indication that this legislation will slow the
development of resistant bugs."
Most consumer and public health groups disagree with the
industry message. According to to a recent Pew
Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming report, "A key contributor
to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is the overuse of drugs on
industrial farms."
"Antibiotics important to human health are fed to food
animals at low doses, often over long periods of time, creating a breeding
ground for new and resistant bacteria and a potentially hazardous
workplace."
Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY)--the only
microbiologist serving in Congress-- introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics
for Medical Treatment Act, commonly known as PAMTA, or H.R. 1549, in the House
in early 2007, and again last March. The bill would require that the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), deny any new animal
antibiotic drugs unless the federal government is certain the drugs will not
contribute to antimicrobial resistance.
The bill would also ban the routine, or nontherapeutic,
use of antibiotics in food-producing animals--a widespread practice in animal
agriculture.
The late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a similar
bill in the Senate last year with 17 cosponsors.
Advocates working to limit antibiotic use in agriculture are
hoping the CBS series will build support for Congressional action. If the
segments cause enough public concern over the issue, it's possible that PAMTA
could pick up some momentum, even amidst a jam packed legislative agenda.
"We're excited this message is getting out," said
Robert Guidos, vice president of public policy and
government relations for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which
represents over 9,000 infectious disease professionals.
Guidos hopes the CBS segment educates consumers and inspires them
to think about how meat purchases can affect public health. "This is just
a means for the food and agriculture sector to save a few pennies of profit per
pound of meat. I think consumers are willing to pay a few more pennies to
protect public health."
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