More on antibiotics in animal feed

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It's hard to understand why AARP The Magazine and most other media ignore the  impact on humans from the widespread use of antibiotics in animal feed.


As I've noted, AARP The Magazine has published long articles on saving money at the supermarket and Dr. Mehmet Oz's guidelines for a healthy diet without any reference to the challenges readers face when shopping for poultry and meat, much of which is filled with antibiotics from animal feed or water.

You've seen those huge slabs of beef or pork featured in the cooking segments on morning TV, but have you ever heard the chefs or the host discuss whether the animals were raised on antibiotics or  growth hormones? Nail-biting Chef Bobby Flay's hamburger restaurant in Paramus serves Certified Angus Beef filled with antibiotics, although there is a naturally raised version available.

Here is a small item in the August 2010 issue of On Health from Consumer Reports. Under a "health wire" heading on Page 2, "Antibiotic resistance, from animals to humans," it reads:

"The bacteria that causes urinary-tract infections resistant to antibiotics may have developed first in animals, according to a study in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

"Researchers think it's perhaps because of the widespread use of antibiotic in animal feed."

(Photo: Dr. Oz in 2008.)