Antibiotics

The problem

Just like people, some farm animals will occasionally become unwell. When this happens, using antibiotics therapeutically can sometimes be the only way to get them well again.

However, although some important progress has been made in recent years, almost all intensive livestock production depends on the routine use of antibiotics, mostly administered in feed or drinking water.

Most of these antibiotics are closely related to essential antibiotics used in human medicine. There is mounting evidence that the antibiotic resistant genes that develop in bacteria on and in animals routinely receiving antibiotics can transfer via food, direct contact or the environment, to bacteria that cause infections in humans, meaning that the infections they cause no longer respond to the antibiotics prescribed by GPs and in hospitals.

How did we get here?

The relatively easy availability of antibiotics is one of the key factors which makes the factory farming of animals possible. Before the routine use of antibiotics was first permitted in 1950, at a time when they had only just become available for use in human medicine, almost all livestock were kept in free-range systems because it had been found impossible to keep them healthy and alive in confined, intensive conditions.

The unnatural conditions on intensive livestock farms means that many of the animals do not develop good immune systems and are highly vulnerable to infection. Having large numbers of animals cooped up indoors together means that infections can spread rapidly between the animals. As a result, vets feel obliged to prescribe antibiotics for all animals in a herd or flock, even if only a small number are unwell, or suspected of becoming unwell.

How this impacts the UK

As well as impacting US consumers, and potentially UK citizens when they visit the US, this problem could also impact UK consumers if the Government succeeds in agreeing trade deals with the US Government or with individual states.

While the UK government banned the use of hormone growth promoters in cattle more than thirty years ago, the US is one of the countries that still permits the use of hormones in beef production, in addition to antibiotics, to make cattle grow faster. One of the widely used products even contains antibiotics and hormones together.

Antibiotic Resistance

There has been an alarming rise in antibiotic resistance which is becoming a major threat to public health. An estimated 33,000 people in the UK/EU and an estimated 35,000 people in the US already die each year from antibiotic-resistant infections. In the US, 2.8 million people actually develop a resistant infection each year. Most of these currently recover because a few antibiotics are still effective. But this indicates how many people could be at risk of dying if we continue to misuse antibiotics. Antibiotics of last resort do still save the lives of many people who develop highly resistant infections, but many of these antibiotics are toxic and can have severe side-effects. The extra treatment costs and time in hospital are also a huge burden for healthcare systems and for individuals, some of whom are left disabled by the side effects and never fully recover.

What we do

The Sustainable Food Trust is a founding member of the Global Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, and a member of the UK-based Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics.

We work to promote farming methods where animals are reared naturally and develop strong immune systems, and where antibiotics are only ever needed occasionally when animals become seriously ill.