Antibiotics in Agriculture
The use of antibiotics in agriculture is a controversy that is very relevant in the
news right now, as the popularity of antibiotic free, all natural food items remains on the
rise. In order to understand this issue and why it has grown as large as it has, we have to
know its history. The first discovery of these drugs dates back to 1940, when Howard
Florey and Ernst Chain created penicillin. Life expectancies increased by 8 years, and the
drug gained much public attention. Then, because of the population boom following
World War II, food producers were faced with the need to increase production to feed the
public. In 1950, scientists began to experiment with antibiotic drugs on animals and
found that animals that were given them in small doses were healthier, lived longer, and
grew faster.
Just as all seemed to be well, public concern broke out over whether animals that
had been given antibiotics were safe for consumption. The concern is over food borne
pathogens, especially if animals consume an antibiotic and are then slaughtered. If there
is fecal contamination of the carcass, there is potential that some antibiotic resistant
bacteria that might make it to a consumer. People learned that these antibiotics kill both
bad and good bacteria, and put pressure on the government to place regulations on the use
of antibiotics in animals. In 2006, the European Union banned the use of antibiotics for
the purpose of fattening the animals. Then, by 2013, forty-six U.S. states had imposed
regulations on animal antibiotic use. Lastly and most recently, the FDA released their
long-awaited list of regulations for all food producers, one of the most important being
the ban of the using the same antibiotics in animals and humans. In 2013, Chipotle
contributed to the discussion over this issue when they released an ad for their video
game, The Scarecrow. The ad is designed to convince consumers that the food industry is
tainted and that buying fresh, untouched food from Chipotle will help you “cultivate a
better world,” as the ad suggests. One of the scenes shows a chicken being injected with a
needle and doubling in size.
The hysteria that this issue has caused from consumers prompted some food
producers to share the reality of using antibiotics to combat the negative reputation that
was beginning to grow around them. In an interview held by students at Colorado State
University, co-owner of Amy’s Grass Fed Beef and a stakeholder in this discussion Amy
Williams explained that she has found advantages and disadvantages of using antibiotics
on her cows; the advantages being that the animals are able to combat pathogens that
could kill them, and the disadvantages being that producers are not providing consumers
with the completely natural foods that so many are demanding today. The big question
that food producers and consumers alike are left with on this issue is whether the good
outweighs the bad or if the bad outweighs the good.
The Discovery of Penicillin: The protection of mice against infection. (3
November, 2014.) Retrieved 6 Feb, 2019, from
http://www.animalresearch.info/en/medical-advances/timeline/penicillin-protects-mice-
against-infection/
