Time bombs lace most U.S. meat
US - "The No. 1 public health problem today is the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria," said Margaret Mellon, food and environment program director for the Union of Concerned Scientists.The World Health Organization, the American Public Health Association and the National Academy of Sciences are just a few of the groups that have called for urgent action to address the problem.
Last week, they got news that the Food and Drug Administration is finally starting to pay attention. The FDA withdrew its approval of the use of a Cipro-like antibiotic in poultry feed, albeit five years after the medical community declared the situation an emergency.
Poultry producers had been feeding chickens these antibiotics since 1995. In 2000, scientists began raising concerns about the appearance of antibiotic- resistant bacteria.
In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that resistance to Cipro in Campylobacter, a potentially deadly cause of bacterial food poisoning in humans, had risen 21 percent.
Source: Denver Post
2 August 2005
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