Antibiotic Use Going Up

Archived

Tuesday, 15 April 2003

Farmers are increasingly using antibiotics to fatten-up livestock, despite the threat to human health. The use of antibiotics has increased by up to 90 per cent says the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). The Soil Association's Richard Young has been quoted, "It appears the situation is getting worse rather than better. The implications for human medicine are huge. These chemicals are directly linked to the creation of superbugs which doctors are now struggling to defeat". The EU has drawn up plans to outlaw the use of antibiotics as growth drugs by 2006. But latest the VMD report shows that 45 tons were fed to livestock, mainly pigs and chickens, in 2001 – up by 87 per cent on 2000.
Source: Daily Mail via www.soilassociation.org