Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Top Antibiotics used in Humans vs. Livestock

Thanks to restaurants like Chipolte and Panera you probably think about antibiotics way more than you have. These companies love the fear marketing slogan antibiotic-free meat. The truth is ALL meat is antibiotic free. No antibiotic residues are present in meat due to the withdrawal periods and other precautions requited by the government.

When we give antibiotics to our cows we write down the date given, the antibiotic and the withdrawal date. Not many of our cows are going to slaughter because they are breeding animals, but just in case we did sell one for meat purposes we would look at that information to make sure the withdrawal date was past before selling. This is a good video that explains the process.

You may also have heard about antibiotic resistance. This is where the bacteria become resistant to antibiotics often because of over use. Many people are worried that by using antibiotics in animals we might be creating a resistance problem.


However, take a look at this graphic about the top antibiotics used in humans vs. livestock. I thought it was very interesting to see that what we are using to treat our sick animals doesn't hardly come into play in human health. You can read this post of mine about why we give antibiotics and see how it can help an animal feel better.

On our farm we will continue to use antibiotics, however we will also continue to use them responsibility so that we can help animals become healthy, and ensure you have the best meat in the world to consume.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for clearing this up! I agree the fear marketing is totally out of hand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 11, 2015

    Great post! I always have to chuckle when a grocery store markets something like boneless skinless chicken breast as "antibiotic free," then adds a teeny tiny disclaimer on the package indicating "oh yeah, thanks to withdrawal periods meat is ALWAYS antibiotic free, this is not a new development." Scare tactics at their finest!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's more than an issue of antibiotic residues in meat. It's that feeding antibiotics stimulates bacterial resistance. Then the resistant bacteria are pooped out and enter the environment, where they can trade genes with non-resistant ones, spreading the wealth, so to speak. It doesn't take much antibiotic to get this mechanism going. It's a concern.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! I love to hear from all my readers. Hope you have a fabulous day.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...