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October 23, 2013

Panel: U.S. Failing to Stop Antibiotic Use in Livestock Feed 
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An expert panel is warning that regulators and agricultural producers
have failed to slow the use of antibiotics in livestock. A landmark
study from the Pew Charitable Trust in 2008 called on producers to stop
adding antibiotics to livestock feed in order to boost animal growth.
But a 14-member panel convened by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable
Future says an "appalling lack of progress" has been made in the five
years since that report. Scientists have warned that the allowance of
antibiotics in animals ends up weakening their effectiveness in humans.
An estimated 80 percent of antibiotics used in the United States are
consumed by farm animals.

 

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