And by you I mean us. Yes quite literally you and I and many others. This past week on Tuesday and NY Judge ordered the Food and Drug administration to evaluate the safety risks to human health regarding the rampant and wide spread use of antibiotics in Agra-business, specially in raising animals for slaughter.
You can read the Bloomburg story here
If you'd like join me below for a quick explanation of why this is so important.
Everyone already knows that over use of antibiotics can create super strains of those same bacteria. Indeed we already have had quite a few resistant strains for awhile now, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococcus for one.
In the case of Staph, this bacteria is resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics, and example of this would be Cefalexin or for your uninitiated typically this is the first type of antibiotic given to you when you have an infection. It is also typically the cheapest. These beta-lactams are utilized for all manner of infections from your standard ear infection to even post surgical as a broad spectrum prevention.
The resistant strain of Staph however does not allow these drugs to bind and thus are resistant to them. This version of staph is treated using very often anymore the drug Vancomycin. Vancomycin is part of the family of glycopeptide antibiotics. These drugs have a different binding mechanism than the beta-lactum and though they mimic the end result that being the prevent of the forming of the cell wall, they operate vastly different.
Two different resistant bacteria funnily enough susceptible to each others resistance.
Why the science lesson? Because its important to understand that antibiotics come in these various families and when a bacteria build resistant to one, it builds it to all in that family. This is why antibiotics are a prescription drug. It is important that we try to prevent bacteria the chance of continual exposure so as to prevent drug resistance build up. Also it has been proven in a lab that it is possible for bacteria genes to mingle
What's this have to do with your food is what you're thinking now right?
Everything.
The antibiotics used in raising animal are quite literally the exact same thing used in humans chemically. Very often they are the exact same drug right done to the patent name, and their usage is HUGE. WHO reports that drug consumption of antibiotics with over half of it globally being used in food production.
Its use was so widespread and accepted that until April of this year, you need not even need a prescription for its usage.
Yes seriously you read that right.
Ohh yes, by the way. Those same antibiotics are often used in produce production as well. Sprayed on trees to prevent infections and or treat them. Sprayed to the four winds often. Left to drift along and find there way where ever.
Its astonishing we haven't created a melt your face off super bug yet. However given that bacteria can swap DNA from time to time with other bacteria and that transmission from animal to human is greater than we once thought? It is really only a matter of time before nature takes its evolutionary course and decides people need to die from food born illnesses more often.
Our food supply needs to be sustainable, removing antibiotics from the production of it is one of those changes needed.