(Jan. 28, 2010) Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) penned a column in The Hill strongly defending the use of antibiotics in livestock production that has attracted notice on Capitol Hill and across the country.
“Chances are you may have heard about antibiotic resistance and the ‘threat’ it poses to public health. Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue. However, finger pointing and meritless attacks on America’s farmers as the culprit for declining human health is misguided at best, and at worst, a travesty,” King wrote in Tuesday’s issue.
“During a recent briefing on Capitol Hill, old misconceptions and half-truths were resurrected about production agriculture and the use of antibiotics used to keep farm animals healthy. Under the guise of protecting human health, the briefing was billed as a discussion about the economics and public health effects of antibiotics in food animal production.”
King said proponents of H.R. 1549, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009, “would lead one to believe that we can save money and reduce resistance in humans by banning uses of antibiotics in animals. Of particular concern is their claim that the use of antibiotics in food animals leads to diseases in humans that cannot be treated.”
King emphasized “there is no scientific evidence that antibiotics used in food animals have any significant impact on the effectiveness of antibiotics in people. In fact, an Institute of Food Technologists expert panel report revealed that correlating the risk of antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans is not possible.”