GROUPS SUE US OVER ANTIBIOTICS IN FARM FEED

US GROUPS SUE FDA TO STOP ADDITION
OF HUMAN ANTIBIOTICS IN LIVESTOCK FEED

New York (AFP) - A coalition of consumer groups in USA filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the US Food and Drug Administration over the use of human antibiotics in animal feed, saying it creates dangerous superbugs.  The suit alleges that the regulatory agency concluded in 1977 that the practice of feeding healthy animals low doses of penicillin and tetracycline could lead to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.  “However, despite this conclusion and laws requiring that the agency act on its findings, FDA failed to take any action to protect human health,” the groups said in a statement.  The lawsuit aims to “compel FDA to take action on the agency’s own safety findings, withdrawing approval for most non-therapeutic uses of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed.”

Groups included in the filing include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Public Citizen, and Union of Concerned Scientists.  As farming has become more industrialized, farmers have relied more heavily on antibiotics because they help animals digest more efficiently and stay healthy in the terrible crowded conditions.  Meanwhile, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has increased. Resistant bacteria can evolve whenever drugs are used against them because sub-strains that are less susceptible to antibiotics will survive and multiply.  Last year, the FDA authorities pressed farmers to give fewer antibiotics to livestock and poultry to reduce this kind risk.

 

Human drugs are usually added to feed or mixed into water given to cows, turkeys, chickens, pigs and other livestock.  However, they are administered at such low levels that they do not treat disease, but leave surviving bacteria stronger and more able to resist them.  Accumulating evidence shows that antibiotics are becoming less effective, while our grocery store meat is increasingly laden with drug-resistant bacteria.  Vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber and nutrients, but instead of eating them we give them to animals and we ingest the fats, cholesterol, hormones and antibiotics from the animals meat. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?   

As early as 1961, The AMA journal stated that 90+% of heart disease can be prevented with a Vegetarian diet.  There is a strong link between colon cancer and meat eating. Toxins in meat, do damage because they are not expelled as quickly they would be in carnivores.  Dioxin, one of the deadliest toxins, is concentrated in meat at levels 22 times what are safe, according to the EPA. More than 95% of all dioxin exposure comes in meat, dairy, and eggs. None comes in vegan foods (the other 5% is environmental).  Factory farming has made meat eating more dangerous. Because the animals are given tranquilizers, hormones and antibiotics, the latter often up to 30 times higher than humans consume in a lifetime. Preservatives in meat are dangerous to human health too.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Why Be a Vegan / Vegetarian?”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_be_a_vegan_vegetarian.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vegetarian_recipes_and_resources.htm