Meat Eaters Face Immunity Scare

[Guest guest]

Meat eaters face immunity scare

Annabelle McDonald

23jun06

 

PEOPLE who eat chicken, minced beef, pork chops and lettuce may develop an

immunity to the drugs used to treat potentially fatal conditions such as

meningitis and pneumonia.

 

Seven years after a landmark report by the Joint Expert Technical Advisory

Committee on Antibiotic Resistance warned of drug immunity being passed

through the food chain from animals to humans, an investigation is to be

launched to measure the risk to consumers.

Scientists have long warned that the overuse of antibiotics, such as growth

promoters in chicken, cattle and pigs can breed drug-resistant bugs that may

impede antibiotic treatments of diseases in humans.

The inquiry, due to be completed next May, will estimate the amount of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria existing in food. Chicken, minced beef,

pork-shoulder chops and iceberg lettuce heads will be the initial focus of

the study, after overseas research identified them as containing common

antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Canberra Hospital Infectious Diseases Unit director Peter Collignon welcomed

the research, saying people had the right to know what they were eating.

" This is an issue and we need this data, " Professor Collignon said. " It is

beyond doubt that whenever you use antibiotics, you get resistance. But the

animal industry seems to be denying this is happening.

" In Australia we use 250,000kg of antibiotics in people every year. In

animals we use 500,000kg - I believe most of this is a waste. "

A federal Health Department spokesman was unable to say why the department

waited seven years before implementing the recommendation made by the

advisory committee to conduct a survey.

In a report prepared last year, Food Science Australia found drug-resistant

strains of common food-poisoning bacteria, such as salmonella and

enteroccus, sometimes left " clinicians with few reliable treatment options "

with which to treat patients.

Professor Collignon said although Australia had managed the spread of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria better than countries such as the US, the

health and agriculture industries should work together to reduce the use of

antibiotics by half.

Industry organisation Meat and Livestock Australia defended the use of

antibiotics for animals, saying a government body - the National Residue

Survey - already actively monitored chemical residues in meat to ensure they

were within acceptable ranges.

" All livestock industries need to retain access to antibiotics for the

production of healthy animals for food production, " an MLA spokesman said

yesterday.

" Without antibiotics, mortality rates would rise and animal welfare issues

would become more prevalent. Australia has a very strict and conservative

approach to the registration of agriculture and veterinary chemicals,

administered by the Australian Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority. "

 

 

 

 

 

Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Small Business.