Question

1. Antibiotics are administered to livestock on a routine basis so that the animals will reach market weight more quickly. Explain what the public health concern is that stems from this practice, and what the health effects are.
2. Explain why food defect action levels are a form of risk management rather than a precaution.

Answer 1

The use of antibiotics in food animals selects for bacteria resistant to antibiotics used in humans, and these might spread via the food to humans and cause human infection, hence the banning of growth-promoters.

The overuse of antibiotics in food-producing animals is being blamed for the increase in resistant bacteria, also known as "superbugs." When these are passed to humans they can cause serious illness. However, other experts suggest that antibiotic use in food-producing animals poses very little risk to human health.

Banning the use of all antimicrobials can have a negative impact! Antibiotics are used in livestock production for two basic reasons: disease treatment and disease prevention. Just like humans, animals are prone to bacterial infections. As in human medicine, antibiotics are used to effectively treat those infections.

Responsible use of antibiotics in animals leads to an overall decrease in bacteria. Antibiotics help make food safe by keeping animals healthy and reducing bacteria entering the food supply.

Frequent and inappropriate use of antibiotics can cause bacteria or other microbes to change so antibiotics don't work against them. This is called bacterial resistance or antibiotic resistance. Because of antibiotic overuse, certain bacteria have become resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics available today.

Antibiotic Use in Animals Affects Humans, Too. This includes using antibiotics for human and animal health. Resistant bacteria in food can cause infections in humans. Like in humans, giving antibiotics to food animals will kill most bacteria, but resistant bacteria can survive.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a ban on certain antibiotics at subtherapeutic levels in feed because of the potential for compromising the health of humans.

Antibiotic resistance results in a decreased ability to treat infections and illnesses in people, animals and plants. This can lead to the following problems: increased human illness, suffering and death, increased cost and length of treatments.

Risk assessment has become a standard phrase in health, safety, and environment (HSE) management over the last couple of decades. Although many people have heard of it, not so many know what it really means.

Risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of what, in our work, could cause harm to people, so that we can weigh up whether we have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. The aim is to make sure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill. It involves identifying the hazards present in any undertaking (whether arising from work activities or from other factors, e.g. the layout of the premises) and then evaluating the extent of the risks involved, taking into account existing precautions.

Unknown, hidden, undetected or unrelated risks cause more uneasiness. Moreover, employees use their own procedures when not being directed or when not being supervised. We look for unsafe conditions but not for unsafe acts, may be because of ignorance, arrogance, apathy or complacency. We need to uncover unsafe practices during our rounds to understand the reasons for such practices. What we find depends upon what we look for.