A bill that would have affected the use of antibiotics in livestock has been defeated by the California Senate by 20 votes to 15, reports Brownfield Network.

The bill would have required all school districts in California to make every effort to purchase poultry and meat products that had not been treated with non-therapeutic antibiotics. The original bill was even tougher. It would have prohibited schools from serving poultry or meat products from animals that had been treated with antibiotics at any time during the life of the animal.

Meanwhile, Brownfield Network also reports that an advertising campaign calling for restrictions on the use of antibiotics in livestock is drawing fire from the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

The campaign, targeted at members of Congress and their staff, is intended to drive federal policy changes on the use of antibiotics in livestock by claiming it enhances antibiotic resistance in humans. The Animal Agriculture Alliance calls the campaign 'misleading' and says it could actually lead to unnecessary pain and suffering for animals. The Alliance says most scientists agree that improper use of antibiotics in human medicine is the biggest factor in the formation of resistant bacteria affecting humans – not antibiotic usage in animals, as the ads claim.