The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for making sure that food grown in and imported to America is safe for consumption. This governmental agency regularly tests meat and produce to ensure that harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Staph, and Salmonella, are not present in consumed food. To control these harmful bacteria the FDA has regulated that large-scale animal farms use antibiotics which are “chemicals which can kill or limit the growth of microbes like bacteria, viruses, and fungi” (FDA, 2011). Although the intentions of the FDA to make food safe, it is alarming to find that these bacteria have altered into drug-resistant bacteria which can cause harm to humans.
Journalist David Kirby of The Huffington Post states “sub-therapeutic antibiotics promote animal growth and stave off epidemics, a constant problem when animals are crammed into confinements by the thousands”. These antibiotics are regularly introduced to animals to keep us safe, but how is it possible that these bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics? The FDA asserts that “bacteria can destroy the drug or they can keep the drug from entering the bacteria cell… once bacteria become resistant to a particular drug, the continued use of that drug may increase the number of resistant bacteria” (FDA, 2011). These findings suggest that once an antibiotic is introduced to a strand of bacteria, the bacteria naturally finds a way to defend itself from the antibiotic. Once this defense is initiated by the bacteria, the food no longer becomes safe from bacteria, but rather supports the growth of bacteria.
Recent studies by Carla Vignaroli published in Current Microbiology (May, 2011) tested the antibiotic resistant bacteria “enterococci” found in chicken and pig meat. Their findings suggested that “of the 48 different multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains found within enterococci, 31 of these strains were resistant to two antibiotics” (Vignaroli, 2011). These findings suggest that large portions of the meat we eat regularly contain resistant bacteria. This raises the question then of whether or not the FDA is actually doing their job in protecting us from food-borne bacteria. Looking at the evidence of and presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our foods, it appears as that they are not.
The presence of bacteria in food is something natural and unavoidable, which is why proper preparation of food is necessary. Antibiotics were introduced with the belief that these magical drugs would eliminate any and all bacteria from our food supply, enabling large-scale animal farms to be able to produce massive amounts of meat with little disease and death. The downside of this introduction of antibiotics is that it has made the bacteria within the food impervious to the antibiotics. With this being the case, antibiotics are unnecessary and unnatural. Widespread commercial farming which emphasizes mass output is not the safe answer. Animals raised naturally which are not subject to scientific antibiotic testing is the most sane and safe alternative to eating meat containing antibiotic-resistant super-bacteria.
Kirby, D. (April, 2011). “Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Half Your Meat? Time for Congress to Act”. Huffpost Healt online. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/drugresistant-bacteria-in_b_849928.html
Unknown, January 2011. “Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria in Animals and Food”, U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLiteracy/ucm240634.htm
Vignaroli, C. , Zandri, G. , Aquilanti, L. , Pasquaroli, S. , & Biavasco, F. (2011). “Multidrug-resistant enterococci in animal meat and faeces and co-transfer of resistance from an enterococcus durans to a human enterococcus faecium”. Current Microbiology, 62(5)1438-1447.
