Drug Resistant Bacterial in US Meat

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Drug Resistant Bacterial in US Meat Testmonials...

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are common in American meat, and the microbes survive in the human intestine for a week or more, where they could potentially be the source of drug-resistant infections in people.

Antibiotics are routinely given to chickens, pigs and cattle to prevent illness and to promote growth. The drugs are put in feed or water in concentrations below that used to treat infections. The practice, while commonplace, is controversial because it encourages the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbes.

In 1998, the European Union prohibited the use of antibiotics as animal growth-promoters if the drugs are similar to ones used in human medicine. Numerous groups are pushing for a similar ban in the United States.

Three new studies suggest the interaction among animals, people and microbes may not be as simple and predictable as previously believed. Two of the studies uncovered significant amounts of drug-resistant bacteria in chicken and meat taken from US supermarket shelves. The third demonstrated that such bacteria can persist in the intestinal tract days after a person ingests them. Researchers say the findings bolster the arguments of public health experts who want to limit the use of antibiotics in livestock. The drugs are used to treat sick animals, but in the US they are also routinely given to boost the nutritional benefits of animal feed and promote growth in food animals. The concern with this practice is that the needless use of antibiotics gives a survival advantage to drug-resistant strains of the bacteria behind foodborne illnesses and other infections.

Many health experts worry that food animals are providing a "reservoir" of drug-resistant bacteria that could be transmitted to humans. And the new studies add even more weight to these concerns, according to researchers. They found that at least 17% of chickens from chicken samples from supermarket shelves in parts of Oregon, Georgia, Maryland and Minnesota had Enterococcus faecium bacteria that were resistant to an antibiotic combination called quinupristin-dalfopristin. E. faecium is notoriously resistant to antibiotics, and illnesses caused by the bacteria -- which include infections of the blood and urinary tract -- are a growing problem in US hospitals. The quinupristin-dalfopristin combination was approved in the US in 1999 for the treatment of E. faecium infections that do not respond to the old standby antibiotic vancomycin. That drug, called virginiamycin, has been used in the US since 1974 to promote growth in farm animals.

Similarly, another research team found that of 200 ground meat samples bought in the Washington, DC, area, 20% contained various strains of Salmonella bacteria, most of which were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Among the strains isolated was a particularly virulent, resistant strain known to be a major cause of salmonella outbreaks. The meat samples included beef, chicken, turkey and pork. The third study suggests that drug-resistant E. faecium from animal products does live in the human digestive tract for up to 2 weeks after ingestion.

Danish researchers had healthy volunteers consume milk laced with safe amounts of the bacteria, then collected stool samples to track what happened to the bacteria once ingested. They found traces of drug-resistant E. faecium in samples from 8 of 12 volunteers 6 days after ingestion and in one volunteer 14 days afterward. This residence itself is not enough to cause illness. But if, for instance, a person receives antibiotics in a hospital, these drug-resistant bacteria may "overgrow" in the intestines, spread to the skin and other body areas and possibly contaminate hospital equipment such as catheters.

Taken together, these studies provide the "smoking gun" that argues for a ban on using antibiotics to promote growth in livestock. Europe has issued such a ban, and, Gorbach noted, the US Food and Drug Administration is considering the move. Health experts who advocate limiting antibiotic use want the drugs to be used only against specific pathogens in sick animals, by order of a veterinarian.

NEJM October 18, 2001;345:1147-1154, 1155-1160, 1161-1166, 1202-1203

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:
(©Copyright 1997-2002 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved. Web site: http://www.mercola.com. Newsletters are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola. They are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and they are not intended as medical advice. They are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.)

70% of the antibiotics used in the US are fed to livestock. Other issues you should be concerned about in your meat would be:
• hormones
• if they are fed non-organic food
• and lastly if they receive any grains

Range (grass) fed animals are the most ideal as they have an optimized ratio of essential fatty acids.

Additionally, there is a movement in Europe to replace the antibiotics with garlic. Yes, garlic. As it is much less expensive and the organisms do not appear to develop resistance to it even over prolonged periods. You should seek to find meat that is raised without antibiotics.

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DRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA IN US MEAT