FDA Moves to Regulate Agribusiness Antibiotic Use

By Tommy Dean | December 13, 2013

Rampant antibiotic use is creating stronger and more resistant bacteria, and the government is finally taking action.

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration released a set of guidelines that stipulated when factory farm workers should administer antibiotics to livestock. These recommendations were drafted in response to the agri-industry’s overuse of antibiotics and the subsequent development of super strains of bacteria that are resistant to the medications. Also, according to Mother Jones, the FDA has issued a proposal for a statute that would mandate all farm staff seek the approval of veterinarians before administering antibiotics to their animals, rather than using them indiscriminately to bolster growth and ward off infections that have become common in the unsanitary conditions of factory farms.

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