Antibiotics aren’t just vital for keeping people healthy – they also play a role in producing food. Dr. Keiji Fukuda, an American physician who serves as the World Health Organization’s Special Representative for Antimicrobial Resistance, said of the importance of having effective antibiotics for food animal production, “If we lose that ability [to treat animals when they are sick], we perhaps begin to lose the ability to have adequate food supplies in the world.”

To learn more about the issue, we went to Dr. John Prescott, professor emeritus in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.

What are your thoughts on the United Nations choosing to address the antibiotic resistance issue?

Dr. Prescott: The issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has now generated unprecedented international interest, at the highest political levels nationally and internationally. AMR is regarded as a threat to humanity on a par with climate change. It’s reassuring and rewarding to see movement on this issue.

What is animal agriculture’s role in the issue of antibiotic resistance?

Dr. Prescott: How much is agriculture contributing to antibiotic resistance? No one really knows. There’s a finite contribution but it’s probably relatively selective, and perhaps rather hidden. It’s been a complex issue to sort out, but all the evidence points to some contribution. I hate to put numbers on it because it’s so complex but perhaps 4-to-8 percent overall.

What would be the consequences of overly-restricting antibiotic use in food animals?

Dr. Prescott: Depends on what you mean by overly-constricting. There are different types of antibiotics which are very important for animals but unimportant for people, such as the ionophores used to control coccidiosis, a disease in chickens that chiefly affects the intestines. Removal of ALL antibiotics would make intensive agriculture difficult and would considerably raise the price of animal protein. I don’t think the intention is to do this, just to use antibiotics where their benefits are clear and substantial and not associated with adverse resistance effects in humans.

What do you think is the biggest misconception among consumers on antibiotic use in agriculture?

Dr. Prescott: The biggest misconception is that agricultural use of antibiotics is responsible for most resistance in human bacterial pathogens. There is no evidence for this conception.

Is the food animal sector responding appropriately on the antibiotic resistance issue?  

Dr. Prescott: I think so, generally yes, they are very concerned, knowledgeable and able to act. It’s a work in progress, since they will respond to consumer demand and regulation. Government and regulation is playing catch up in North America, and this governance aspect is more chaotic and needs far more work.

The use of antibiotics, resistance and the impact on health and the food supply are important issues that will continue to be researched and analyzed.

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“Good food safety is really important because of one in six of us, as Americans, will get foodborne illness some time this year and it starts with bringing that food home,” Haugen said.

Start with your grocery bags. If you use reuseable bags, wash them because studies show that bacteria can live grocery bags. Once you have your food home and properly stored, there are four key things to keep your food safe.

“The first one is washing your hands. So even bringing that food home and putting it in the refrigerator, your hands are already contaminated. And any time I handle meats, I always use paper towels instead of a cloth towel because you can always transfer bacteria if you’re just using a towel,” Haugen said.

“The second tip that I have would be to keep things separate. And that would be especially when you’re preparing your meat and your poultry. You want to have a separate cutting board for raw meat and you want to have a separate cutting board for cooked meats. It’s also really important to make sure you get good cutting in boards that are dishwasher safe and not using wood cutting boards,” she said.

The next step is to use a meat thermometer and make sure food is cooked to the proper temperature. “You can eliminate all bacteria in your raw meat by getting things to the right temperature,” she said.

For whole cuts of pork and beef, such as steaks or roasts, cook to 145 degrees. Ground beef should be cooked 160 degrees and poultry, such as chicken and turkey, need to be cooked to 165 degrees.

“Last but not least is storage. As soon as possible after your meal, put it in a container and you want to make sure that you can label it too so you know “when did I put this in here.” And I like to have them clear just because you can see them what’s inside otherwise you tend to forget,” Haugen said.

Proper food handling can help make sure your food is safe and keep you and your family healthy. Remember these tips”

• Wash reusable shopping bags
• Wash hands thoroughly
• Separate raw and cooked meats
• Use a meat thermometer to make sure foods are cooked to the proper temperature
• Promptly refrigerate leftovers

Check out out video series on antibiotic resistance:

What Causes Antibiotic Resistance? Part 1

Antibiotic Resistance and Use in Food Animals. Part 2

Antibiotic Resistance and Navigating Food Labels. Part 3

The post Antibiotic Resistance and Proper Kitchen Techniques. Part 4 appeared first on Best Food Facts.

“I know as mom, too, that it’s kind of confusing when you walk through the meat aisle,” Haugen said. “I think the important thing to know is all of the poultry and all of the meats in the grocery store does not have antibiotics in it.”

For instance, one package of chicken didn’t have any claims about antibiotics, but Haugen said shoppers can still know that there are no antibiotics in it because of regulations in place. “Even if a farm chooses to use antibiotics in their animals, there’s actually a waiting period before that animal can go to the markets,” she explained.

Some products may have a label that states it is “all natural.”

“100% all natural wording on a label isn’t necessarily verified. So what that tends to mean though is that it’s minimally processed and doesn’t have any artificial ingredients,” she explained. “Organic” is a label which would mean no antibiotics were used on the farm where the animal was raised.

‘All the choices in your cart are really good choices and really just depends on your personal preference but know that all of these are safe for our families to eat,” Haugen said.

She said there are four keys to keeping food safe and keeping your family safe:

1. Washing your hands.
2. Separating raw and cooked meat.
3. Cook meat to the proper temperature.
4. Refrigerate leftovers property.

Labels can be confusing, taking the time to understand what they mean can help you to choose food that is raised in accordance with your values. 

What Causes Antibiotic Resistance? Part 1

Antibiotic Resistance and Use in Food Animals. Part 2

Antibiotic Resistance and Proper Kitchen Techniques. Part 4

The post Antibiotic Resistance and Navigating Food Labels. Part 3 appeared first on Best Food Facts.

The discovery and use of antibiotics is one of the greatest human and veterinary medical advances in history. However, there is concern about bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics used to treat infections.

To help us better understand antibiotic resistance, food blogger Alice Choi of HipFoodieMom went in search of answers from experts. In the first video, she visited with Dr. Pritish Tosh with the Infectious Diseases Division at the Mayo Clinic. He explained how antibiotics developed.

“Antibiotics are derivatives of natural compounds. They are derivatives of things that other organisms are already secreting and they’ve been doing this in terms of biowarfare between different organisms for millennia,” Dr.Tosh said. “Conversely, the antibiotic resistance that the bacteria have, have also existed in nature for a long time. And so, one antibiotic-resistant organism when it gets into your gut, I can share that piece of resistance with other bacteria there.”

Dr. Tosh also discussed how antibiotic resistance emerged, noting that when penicillin was first discovered, there was great excitement.

“Now we’re at a point where we are seeing bacterial infections that are resistant to all the antibiotics that we have. Now thankfully, these multidrug completely resistant bacterial infections are very rare. But we are seeing more of them and the concern is that the more antibiotics we use the more we’re going to see these highly resistant bacterial infections and it’s only going to grow unless we do something very decisive,” he said.

Resistance has emerged because of a combination of antibiotics used to treat people and used in agriculture, Dr. Tosh said. One thing people can do is to not use antibiotic hand soap.

“There’s a lot of pressure that physicians feel from their patients when they come in with a cold to get a prescription for antibiotics. And one major thing to do is not have that expectation and really trust your physician to have the mindset that if the physician says there’s not a need for antibiotics then it’s probably going to be okay,” he said.

Antibiotic resistance is something that has developed over time and overuse of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine has contributed to it. Patients can help by not expecting an antibiotic for every illness.

Other topics in the video series are:

Antibiotic Use in Food Animals

Navigating Food Labels

Proper Kitchen Techniques

For additional resources available Mayo Clinic visit Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk and Bacterial vs. viral infections: How do they differ?

_{The image “Antibiotics” by Michael Mortensen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.}

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