Antibiotics in our foods? A look at some poultry practices

Antibiotic resistance is the condition whereby a drug that could be used to treat an infection caused by a particular micro-organism (bacteria, fungi or virus) is no more effective against that organism. 

The known causes of antibiotic resistance include overuse and underuse of antibiotics, ease of access to antibiotics and the use of antibiotics in animal production. It is estimated that over 50 per cent of all antibiotics produced the world over are used in animal production. 

But how did the abuse of these important drugs come about? About 60 years ago, farmers started using antibiotics in animal production when they discovered that providing low levels of antibiotics to the feed or water made poultry, cattle and swine put on more weight and this happened faster than when animals were on a traditional diet. 

For farmers, this meant that they could feed the animals much less, thus saving a lot of money.  So the practice became widely adopted.

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