The debate over whether to give livestock certain classes of antibiotics has returned to the floor of the House of Representatives.
A bill proposed back in March by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York) is attempting to restrict the use of antibiotics to prevent illness in farm animals. She's responding to concerns that the drugs are losing their potency because they're being used too often. Farm advocacy groups argue that the measure would lead to reduced yields, in turn resulting in higher prices at market and a greater need for imported meat.
But that's the idea, according to Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
"We're looking at ways to phase out the use of antibiotics for growth
promotion and food efficiency in livestock," Sharfstein told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sharfstein is pushing to have veterinarians oversee which antibiotics are given to farm animals. The legislation seeks to ban the use of seven classes of drugs -- including tetracycline and penicillin -- "in the absence of any clinical sign of disease." The bill is H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) spoke out against the bill
recently on the floor of the House. He noted the complexity of the
current agrarian system and said this bill would throw that system into
chaos, requiring the government to shoulder too much responsibility. In
addition, he expressed concerns over the FDA telling farmers how to
farm.
The debate over antibiotics being given to livestock is a global issue,
with the World Health Organization recently pushing for limits and
decreased use of antibiotics. And marketers and producers have taken
notice, advertising "antibiotic-free" meat and emphasizing the
conditions in which animals are raised and slaughtered. But antibiotic-free meat comes
with a price. It's typically more expensive and right now the
Agriculture Department doesn't restrict who can use that label.
It's a complicated issue, one that will be decided by the market if the legislation stalls, as it has at the state level.
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