Guest guest Posted December 10, 1999 Report Share Posted December 10, 1999 Report raises concerns of human harm from antibiotics-fed chickens December 9, 1999 Web posted at: 12:12 p.m. EST (1712 GMT) http://cnn.com/1999/FOOD/news/12/09/food.antibiotics.ap/index.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government report suggests up to 5,000 Americans might have suffered longer-lasting food poisoning last year because they caught an antibiotic-resistant strain from eating chicken. However, the Food and Drug Administration cautioned that the nation lacks firm statistics on food-borne infections so it's impossible to know how precise the new estimate is. The report, being debated at an FDA meeting with food safety and veterinary experts this week, is the first attempt to predict human health risk if antibiotic use in animals lets drug-resistant germs wind up in the meat people eat. Many public health experts say on-the-farm drugs worsen the already serious problem of antibiotics losing their power to fight infections. But the animal drug industry insists there is no serious risk to consumers. The new FDA risk assessment, based on a mathematical model, examines campylobacter, the nation's most common food-borne infection. Often spread by improperly handling raw chicken, the diarrhea-causing bacteria usually results in a short illness but can be serious. Several years ago, Minnesota researchers discovered that using antibiotics called fluoroquinolones to fight certain poultry infections led to fluoroquinolone-resistant campylobacter in supermarket chicken. So FDA researchers calculated campylobacter infections to conclude some 5,000 people sick enough to see a doctor may have been prescribed fluoroquinolones in a vain attempt to treat drug-resistant campylobacter caught from chicken. ------------------------------ Duh! More info about antibiotics in animal agriculture (in Canada) http://www.cma.ca/cmaj/vol-159/issue-9/1129.htm More info about chicken http://www.afpafitness.com/Chickenscare.htm More info about chicken http://www.vegsource.org/lyman/chick.htm Even more info about chicken http://www.chetday.com/chicken.html Chicken industry quotes: " If you took a raw chicken and dropped it in a cow pile or in a pile of chicken manure, would you pick it up, wash it off and cook it for dinner? That's just about what's happening at these plants. " -- Pat Godfrey, Inspector Tyson's chicken processing plant, Springdale, Arkansas " I don't eat chicken anymore. I won't eat it. I won't allow it in my house. " -- Rodney Leonard - former supervisor of U.S. Poultry inspection -- _____________ Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com powered by OutBlaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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