Dive Summary:
- A study on the lower presence of drug-resistant bacteria in antibiotic-free released this week by Consumer Reports prompted mixed reactions from the food industry and lawmakers.
- The National Turkey Federation disputed what it said were "misleading findings" and called the study's small sample size into question, while U.S. Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take stronger food safety actions.
- Meanwhile, the American Meat Institute says the study shows how safe turkey actually is, citing the lack of presence by both Campylobacter and Salmonella--the two bacteria most commonly linked to food safety issues involving turkey.
From the article:
... “The article is misleading about the significance of its antibiotic findings,” said NTF in a press release. “One of the antibiotics for which it tested (ciprofloxacin) has not been used in poultry production for almost eight years, meaning resistance is highly unlikely to be from farm-animal use, and two other drug classes (penicillin and cephalosporin) are used infrequently in animal agriculture. The fourth drug class tested by Consumer Reports, tetracycline, is used in animal agriculture, but is a largely insignificant antibiotic in human medicine, comprising only four percent of all antibiotics prescribed by physicians.” ...
