Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013
Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013
Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
MEAT<br />
for food. The legislation, entitled the “Delivering Antimicrobial<br />
Transparency to Animals (DATA) Act,” states it will help<br />
public health officials and scientists “better understand and<br />
interpret trends and variations in antimicrobial resistance” and<br />
identify interventions for preventing and controlling drug<br />
resistance. 14<br />
“...produce—not meat—was responsible for nearly half of all<br />
illnesses derived from food.”<br />
This bill, however, is unnecessary as the animal agriculture<br />
industry already has the National Antimicrobial Resistance<br />
Monitoring System (NARMS) in place. 15 NARMS is a national<br />
public health surveillance system that tracks antibiotic<br />
resistance in foodborne bacteria. The NARMS program was<br />
established in 1996 as a partnership between the U.S. <strong>Food</strong><br />
and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC and USDA.<br />
NARMS monitors antimicrobial susceptibility among<br />
enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats and food animals.<br />
The major bacteria currently under surveillance are Salmonella,<br />
Campylobacter, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus. NARMS also<br />
collaborates with antimicrobial resistance monitoring systems<br />
in other countries to work toward international harmonization<br />
of testing and reporting. 15 Currently, each NARMS agency<br />
publishes comprehensive annual reports. 16<br />
While some perceive that antibiotics are used to rapidly<br />
increase the growth of livestock animals, the truth is that<br />
farmers and ranchers work closely with their veterinarian to<br />
determine the best strategies to keep their animals safe and<br />
healthy. Antibiotics are one of several tools that farmers may<br />
use, when necessary, in a herd health program. When animals<br />
are sick or at risk of becoming sick, they should be treated in<br />
adherence to evidence-based standards of veterinary medicine<br />
in ways that don’t stress the animals or the environment and<br />
are in the best interest of long-term human health. 17<br />
Farmers and ranchers use antibiotics, when necessary, to<br />
humanely treat sick animals and to keep animals healthy,<br />
always in consultation with their veterinarian. In addition,<br />
farmers and ranchers can only use veterinary antibiotic medicines<br />
that are approved by FDA and used in accordance with<br />
FDA orders, guidance and requirements. FDA continues to<br />
monitor antibiotic medicines on a regular basis, to ensure the<br />
medicines are effective and safe for animals and their meat<br />
and milk products.<br />
In Summary<br />
While there is certainly a lot of misinformation circulating<br />
through both traditional and social media, the industry<br />
needs to continue to increase transparency and better explain<br />
standard industry practices to their customers as well as all<br />
consumers.<br />
Conflicting scientific information and a lack of self-discovery<br />
and consumer-driven inquiry leads to a “knowledge gap”<br />
that can easily be exploited by groups opposed to the animal<br />
agriculture industry.<br />
It is important to remember that there are risks and benefits<br />
to everything—eating a meat-free diet isn’t always as safe<br />
and healthy as portrayed, but too much meat and poultry<br />
isn’t healthful either. For consumers to make logical and wellinformed<br />
choices, the meat industry must be more proactive<br />
in contributing to ongoing discussions with consumers. It is<br />
also important to remember, however, that the many choices<br />
consumers have at the grocery store are only available because<br />
of the dedicated farmers, ranchers and processors that work<br />
everyday to feed a hungry country and world.<br />
•<br />
Emily Meredith is the communications director for the Animal<br />
Agriculture Alliance. She received a B.A. in international affairs<br />
and journalism from The George Washington University and a<br />
J.D. from Seton Hall University.<br />
Christopher Ashworth, D.V.M., is a veterinarian and owner<br />
of New Frontier Angus Ranches. He is the chairman of the Animal<br />
Agriculture Alliance and is currently president of the Arkansas Angus Association.<br />
References<br />
1. www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?<br />
id=D6029523-E7F2-99DF-3BF8CE4CE6142A95.<br />
2. www.science20.com/cool-links/animal_activists_are_dumb_about_<br />
science_smart_about_exploiting_gap_knowledge-104724.<br />
3. Norwood, F.B. and J.L. Lusk. <strong>2013</strong>. Animal welfare and food safety. <strong>Food</strong><br />
<strong>Safety</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> 19(1): 46–53.<br />
4. www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/<br />
DGTipsheet6Protein<strong>Food</strong>s.pdf.<br />
5. www.fb.org/index.php?action=newsroom.fastfacts.<br />
6. www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/19/gmcrops.food.<br />
7. www.agweb.com/article/modern_agriculture_myths_debunked.<br />
8. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/3/11-1866_article.htm.<br />
9. dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-safetytimeline.cfm?doc_name=fs-111-2-58.<br />
10. http://www.fda.gov/<strong>Food</strong>/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/<br />
ucm272351.htm.<br />
11. www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/Federal_Meat_<br />
Inspection_Act/index.asp.<br />
12. http://www.fda.gov/<strong>Food</strong>/GuidanceRegulation/HACCP/<br />
HACCPPrinciplesApplicationGuidelines/default.htm.<br />
13. www.porknetwork.com/blogs/193832341.html?author=190911091.<br />
14. www.foodsafetynews.com/<strong>2013</strong>/02/slaughter-and-waxman-introducebill-to-gather-more-data-on-antibiotics-in-ag.<br />
15. www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/<strong>Safety</strong>Health/AntimicrobialResistance/<br />
NationalAntimicrobialResistanceMonitoringSystem/ucm059089.htm.<br />
16. www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=22435.<br />
17. www.fooddialogues.com/posts/2012/03/28/overview-antibiotics-use-inanimals-raised-for-food.<br />
50 F o o d S a f e t y M a g a z i n e