Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013

MEAT
for food. The legislation, entitled the “Delivering Antimicrobial
Transparency to Animals (DATA) Act,” states it will help
public health officials and scientists “better understand and
interpret trends and variations in antimicrobial resistance” and
identify interventions for preventing and controlling drug
resistance. 14
“...produce—not meat—was responsible for nearly half of all
illnesses derived from food.”
This bill, however, is unnecessary as the animal agriculture
industry already has the National Antimicrobial Resistance
Monitoring System (NARMS) in place. 15 NARMS is a national
public health surveillance system that tracks antibiotic
resistance in foodborne bacteria. The NARMS program was
established in 1996 as a partnership between the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC and USDA.
NARMS monitors antimicrobial susceptibility among
enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats and food animals.
The major bacteria currently under surveillance are Salmonella,
Campylobacter, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus. NARMS also
collaborates with antimicrobial resistance monitoring systems
in other countries to work toward international harmonization
of testing and reporting. 15 Currently, each NARMS agency
publishes comprehensive annual reports. 16
While some perceive that antibiotics are used to rapidly
increase the growth of livestock animals, the truth is that
farmers and ranchers work closely with their veterinarian to
determine the best strategies to keep their animals safe and
healthy. Antibiotics are one of several tools that farmers may
use, when necessary, in a herd health program. When animals
are sick or at risk of becoming sick, they should be treated in
adherence to evidence-based standards of veterinary medicine
in ways that don’t stress the animals or the environment and
are in the best interest of long-term human health. 17
Farmers and ranchers use antibiotics, when necessary, to
humanely treat sick animals and to keep animals healthy,
always in consultation with their veterinarian. In addition,
farmers and ranchers can only use veterinary antibiotic medicines
that are approved by FDA and used in accordance with
FDA orders, guidance and requirements. FDA continues to
monitor antibiotic medicines on a regular basis, to ensure the
medicines are effective and safe for animals and their meat
and milk products.
In Summary
While there is certainly a lot of misinformation circulating
through both traditional and social media, the industry
needs to continue to increase transparency and better explain
standard industry practices to their customers as well as all
consumers.
Conflicting scientific information and a lack of self-discovery
and consumer-driven inquiry leads to a “knowledge gap”
that can easily be exploited by groups opposed to the animal
agriculture industry.
It is important to remember that there are risks and benefits
to everything—eating a meat-free diet isn’t always as safe
and healthy as portrayed, but too much meat and poultry
isn’t healthful either. For consumers to make logical and wellinformed
choices, the meat industry must be more proactive
in contributing to ongoing discussions with consumers. It is
also important to remember, however, that the many choices
consumers have at the grocery store are only available because
of the dedicated farmers, ranchers and processors that work
everyday to feed a hungry country and world.
•
Emily Meredith is the communications director for the Animal
Agriculture Alliance. She received a B.A. in international affairs
and journalism from The George Washington University and a
J.D. from Seton Hall University.
Christopher Ashworth, D.V.M., is a veterinarian and owner
of New Frontier Angus Ranches. He is the chairman of the Animal
Agriculture Alliance and is currently president of the Arkansas Angus Association.
References
1. www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?
id=D6029523-E7F2-99DF-3BF8CE4CE6142A95.
2. www.science20.com/cool-links/animal_activists_are_dumb_about_
science_smart_about_exploiting_gap_knowledge-104724.
3. Norwood, F.B. and J.L. Lusk. 2013. Animal welfare and food safety. Food
Safety Magazine 19(1): 46–53.
4. www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/
DGTipsheet6ProteinFoods.pdf.
5. www.fb.org/index.php?action=newsroom.fastfacts.
6. www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/19/gmcrops.food.
7. www.agweb.com/article/modern_agriculture_myths_debunked.
8. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/3/11-1866_article.htm.
9. dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-safetytimeline.cfm?doc_name=fs-111-2-58.
10. http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/
ucm272351.htm.
11. www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/Federal_Meat_
Inspection_Act/index.asp.
12. http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/HACCP/
HACCPPrinciplesApplicationGuidelines/default.htm.
13. www.porknetwork.com/blogs/193832341.html?author=190911091.
14. www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/02/slaughter-and-waxman-introducebill-to-gather-more-data-on-antibiotics-in-ag.
15. www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/AntimicrobialResistance/
NationalAntimicrobialResistanceMonitoringSystem/ucm059089.htm.
16. www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=22435.
17. www.fooddialogues.com/posts/2012/03/28/overview-antibiotics-use-inanimals-raised-for-food.
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