The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group on Tuesday sent out an email warning about the spread of superbugs – mutations resistant to most existing poisons or other efforts against them. From it:
We know the danger is real.
Raising livestock and poultry on routine antibiotics is helping grow and spread the superbugs — antibiotic-resistant bacteria — that could soon kill more people than cancer. [1]
Yet far too often, we don’t know or can’t trust whether the meat we buy has been raised with or without antibiotics. It’s time to stop the overuse of antibiotics and the next big step is to put a label on it.
We have a right to know whether our food threatens our health. Join our call on the USDA to label meat raised with routine antibiotics.
There’s no question that overusing antibiotics poses a danger to our health. We’ve known this for decades. Yet, for decades, the industry has fed huge amounts of antibiotics to factory farm animals — even when the animals were healthy.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria already infect more than a million Americans each year, and more than 23,000 die. Now, according to a recent study, resistant bacteria are projected to kill 10 million people per year by 2050.
We deserve to know whether the food we buy is contributing to the rise in drug-resistant superbugs.
I’m not alone in wanting labels. A Consumer Reports poll found that 83% of Americans want such a label to inform whether beef, pork, turkey, chicken or other meats in a grocery store come from animals routinely given antibiotics.
The good news is that consumers are demanding change. Thanks to you, we helped organize consumers to convince McDonald’s to end the routine use of antibiotics in the chicken they sell.
More good news: The USDA is considering a simple requirement that meat carry labels telling consumers whether it was raised on antibiotics.
But with big food companies pushing back, the USDA isn’t about to hand us a victory on a silver platter. We have to demand it. Add your name to our call for action. It’s time to stop the overuse of antibiotics, and the next big step is to put a label on it.
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