Tag: antibiotic
-
FDA Takes Further Action to Reduce Antibiotic Use in Livestock
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released industry guidance and a draft regulation about a new voluntary initiative intended to decrease the use of antimicrobials in agricultural animals. According to an April 11, 2012, press release, FDA has issued final guidance for industry titled “The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs in Food-Producing Animals,”…
-
Federal Court Orders FDA to Initiate Withdrawal Proceedings on Antibiotics in Animal Feed
A federal magistrate judge in New York has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin proceedings to withdraw approval for the subtherapeutic use of certain antibiotics in animal feed, agreeing with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of advocacy organizations that the agency had a statutory duty to hold withdrawal…
-
New York Lawmaker Questions Industry on Livestock Antibiotic Use
U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) has sent a letter to more than 60 food producers and retailers, “asking them to disclose their policies on antibiotic use in meat and poultry production.” Citing “decades of research,” the February 16, 2012, letter claims that agricultural antibiotic applications have contributed to drug-resistant disease in humans and seeks to…
-
FDA Restricts Use of Cephalosporin in Livestock
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule prohibiting the extra-label use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in livestock. Citing “evidence that certain extralabel uses… will likely cause an adverse event in humans,” the agency has specifically barred using cephalosporins (i) “at unapproved dose levels, frequencies, durations, or routes of administration”; (ii)…
-
European Parliament Adopts Tighter Controls of Antibiotic Use in Livestock Farming
The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution calling for a ban on most uses of antibiotics in livestock. Noting that “superbugs” take the lives of approximately 25,000 people in Europe each year, the non-binding resolution urges the European Commission (EC) to “make legislative proposals to phase out the prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock farming.”…
-
FDA Denies Requests to Prohibit Use of Certain Antibiotics in Food Animals
After a coalition of advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking an order compelling the agency to rule on 1999 and 2005 petitions that asked the agency to withdraw approval of certain antimicrobial drugs in food animal production, the agency finally acted. Information about the lawsuit appears in Issue…
-
Ohio Will Not Pursue Dairy Labeling Restrictions
According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Ohio has decided not to pursue regulations that would prohibit dairy producers from including on their labels statements that organic dairy products are made without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined in September 2010 that those parts of the rule involving hormone-free…
-
GAO Faults Agency Progress on Antibiotic Use in Animals
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a September 2011 report claiming that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have failed to obtain credible data on the use of antibiotics in food animals, as well as the presence of resistant bacteria in animals and retail meat.…