FDA Takes Steps to Phase Out Antibiotics in Meat

The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it would begin phasing antibiotics out of animal feed designed to help animals grow bigger on smaller portions, as well as phase in oversight of the remaining uses of such drugs.

The shift centers on asking those pharmaceutical companies that produce antibiotics to change the products' labeling as to limit their use for medical purposes.

"What is voluntary is only the participation of animal pharmaceutical companies," HealthDay reported Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, as saying during a press conference Wednesday. "Once these labeling changes have been made, these products will only be able to be used for therapeutic reasons with veterinary oversight."

As the reason for the decision, the agency cited concerns of increased resistance among bacteria and other microbes given that many of the antibiotics found in animal feed are used in treating human infection.

"Because antimicrobial drug use in both humans and animals can contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance, it is important to use these drugs only when medically necessary," officials wrote in a statement.

In April, the Environmental Work Group (EWG) said data "buried" in the government's National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System showed that the majority of store-bought meat tested in 2011 contained antibiotic-resistance bacteria. 

The new plan only applies to those antibiotics used for treating humans and that are approved for use in feed and water of animals that are bred for consumption. Pharmaceutical companies are being asked to notify the FDA as to whether or not they intend to sign on to it within the next three months, with a three-year transition process to follow.

"We realize that these steps represent changes for veterinarians and animal producers, and we have been working -- and will continue to work -- to make this transition as seamless as possible," said Bernadette Dunham, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The announcement comes two months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report encouraging the use of antibiotics in "food-producing animals under veterinary oversight and only to manage and treat infectious diseases, not to promote growth."

"Implementing this strategy is an important step forward in addressing antimicrobial resistance," said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor. "Based on our outreach, we have every reason to believe that animal pharmaceutical companies will support us in this effort."