6 ms·

British supermarket chickens show record level of antibiotic-resistant superbugs

78 points by dberhane 9y ago

exhilaration 9y ago
Even the US banned the practice over 10 years ago because of the strength of the scientific evidence. So why are British and European authorities still refusing to take action? Very interesting, nice to see the US ahead on this. I've always thought that European food and safety standards were stricter than what we have in the US.
- Sammi 9y ago
  Wikepedia article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock Seems the EU implemented a ban in 2006 that was NOT very well enforced.
- DanBC 9y ago
  > Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, told the Guardian: “It is scandalous that [government rules] still allow for poultry to be mass-medicated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Twenty years ago, a House of Lords report said this should be stopped. Even the US banned the practice over 10 years ago because of the strength of the scientific evidence. So why are British and European authorities still refusing to take action?” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-on-track-to-cut-antibiotic-use-in-animals-as-total-sales-drop-9 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-on-track-to-cut-antibi... > Use of antibiotics for non-medicinal purposes, such as in animal feed, has been banned in the EU since 2006. A number of additional measures ensure food does not contain antibiotics when it reaches the table. Those using antibiotics in livestock for medicinal purposes must observe a safe withdrawal period before an animal can go to slaughter or its products be sold to consumers, which is set by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and European Medicines Agency. Stringent rules are also in place for meat and dairy products imported into the EU from the rest of the world. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-low-for-sales-of-antibiotics-for-use-in-animals https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-low-for-sales-of-a... > A Defra report released today shows sales of antibiotics for use in food-producing animals dropped by 27%, from 62 mg/kg in 2014 to 45mg/kg in 2016, surpassing a government target of 50 mg/kg set following recommendations in the 2016 O’Neill Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. I don't know if 45mg/kg is a lot or a little. You can read the Defra guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/antimicrobial-resistance-amr-information-and-resources https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/antimicrobial-resi...
yomly 9y ago
In the liberals' world with markets unimpeded by regulation and entirely self-governed by market forces, how does something like the rise of superbugs play out? It takes a good 10-20 years lead time for this to become a real issue, and then probably another decade for the market to adjust to punish the bad actors. In this time, the damage has been done. The downstream impact of certain business practises are too detached from the source, and the impact itself felt too much in isolation from the cause for the market to react appropriately. Sadly, it seems government too has moved too slowly on issues such as this so what to do?
- Simon_says 9y ago
  Surely you meant Libertarians?
  - maze-le 9y ago
    'Liberal' has different connotations in Europe and in the US. In the US the term describes policies that are more in favour of regulation/state intervention and are on the progressive leaning side of the political spectrum (like what we in europe would call social democratic). In Europe the term 'liberal' is more connected with free-markets/anti-regulation/lower taxes policies and is placed more on the conservative leaning side of the political spectrum.
    - Simon_says 9y ago
      Thanks for the clarification. You learn something new every day.
    - blibble 9y ago
      as a UK voter: your description of liberal would seem to be rather far away from the commonly accepted UK meaning
      - CaptainZapp 9y ago
        The Economist is about as liberal as a newspaper may come. And it's definitely English and very much free market. That said it's very progressive on a social level. Like arguing for gay marriage and for legalization of dope, both already in the mid nineties.
ourmandave 9y ago
Jeez, the click-bait title. British supermarket chickens show RECORD LEVEL of antibiotic-resistant SUPERBUGS.
- Sammi 9y ago
  I'm not following. Is the title not factual? You're emphasizing the terms "record level" and "superbugs". So I take it that this is what you're specifically calling click bait'y? The term superbug is pretty a pretty common term for antibiotics resistant bugs. Even wikipedia has it as a redirect to their Antimicrobial Resistance article: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_bug_(bacteria) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_bug_(bacter... And are the levels of such superbugs not in fact hitting record levels?
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bornonline1 9y ago
I worked as a chicken quality check in a large UK factory. The cheap chicken you see in supermarkets and (fast food) is complete trash. Freerange, Organic and normal do really differ in all kind of ways. People would really look at chicken differently if they worked at a poultry processing factory for a week.

78 points by dberhane 9y ago

Even the US banned the practice over 10 years ago because of the strength of the scientific evidence. So why are British and European authorities still refusing to take action? Very interesting, nice to see the US ahead on this. I've always thought that European food and safety standards were stricter than what we have in the US.

Sammi 9y ago
Wikepedia article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock Seems the EU implemented a ban in 2006 that was NOT very well enforced.
DanBC 9y ago
> Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, told the Guardian: “It is scandalous that [government rules] still allow for poultry to be mass-medicated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Twenty years ago, a House of Lords report said this should be stopped. Even the US banned the practice over 10 years ago because of the strength of the scientific evidence. So why are British and European authorities still refusing to take action?” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-on-track-to-cut-antibiotic-use-in-animals-as-total-sales-drop-9 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-on-track-to-cut-antibi... > Use of antibiotics for non-medicinal purposes, such as in animal feed, has been banned in the EU since 2006. A number of additional measures ensure food does not contain antibiotics when it reaches the table. Those using antibiotics in livestock for medicinal purposes must observe a safe withdrawal period before an animal can go to slaughter or its products be sold to consumers, which is set by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and European Medicines Agency. Stringent rules are also in place for meat and dairy products imported into the EU from the rest of the world. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-low-for-sales-of-antibiotics-for-use-in-animals https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-low-for-sales-of-a... > A Defra report released today shows sales of antibiotics for use in food-producing animals dropped by 27%, from 62 mg/kg in 2014 to 45mg/kg in 2016, surpassing a government target of 50 mg/kg set following recommendations in the 2016 O’Neill Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. I don't know if 45mg/kg is a lot or a little. You can read the Defra guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/antimicrobial-resistance-amr-information-and-resources https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/antimicrobial-resi...

yomly 9y ago

In the liberals' world with markets unimpeded by regulation and entirely self-governed by market forces, how does something like the rise of superbugs play out? It takes a good 10-20 years lead time for this to become a real issue, and then probably another decade for the market to adjust to punish the bad actors. In this time, the damage has been done. The downstream impact of certain business practises are too detached from the source, and the impact itself felt too much in isolation from the cause for the market to react appropriately. Sadly, it seems government too has moved too slowly on issues such as this so what to do?

Simon_says 9y ago
Surely you meant Libertarians?
- maze-le 9y ago
  'Liberal' has different connotations in Europe and in the US. In the US the term describes policies that are more in favour of regulation/state intervention and are on the progressive leaning side of the political spectrum (like what we in europe would call social democratic). In Europe the term 'liberal' is more connected with free-markets/anti-regulation/lower taxes policies and is placed more on the conservative leaning side of the political spectrum.
  - Simon_says 9y ago
    Thanks for the clarification. You learn something new every day.
  - blibble 9y ago
    as a UK voter: your description of liberal would seem to be rather far away from the commonly accepted UK meaning
    - CaptainZapp 9y ago
      The Economist is about as liberal as a newspaper may come. And it's definitely English and very much free market. That said it's very progressive on a social level. Like arguing for gay marriage and for legalization of dope, both already in the mid nineties.

ourmandave 9y ago

Jeez, the click-bait title. British supermarket chickens show RECORD LEVEL of antibiotic-resistant SUPERBUGS.

Sammi 9y ago
I'm not following. Is the title not factual? You're emphasizing the terms "record level" and "superbugs". So I take it that this is what you're specifically calling click bait'y? The term superbug is pretty a pretty common term for antibiotics resistant bugs. Even wikipedia has it as a redirect to their Antimicrobial Resistance article: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_bug_(bacteria) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_bug_(bacter... And are the levels of such superbugs not in fact hitting record levels?

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deleted 9y ago

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bornonline1 9y ago

I worked as a chicken quality check in a large UK factory. The cheap chicken you see in supermarkets and (fast food) is complete trash. Freerange, Organic and normal do really differ in all kind of ways. People would really look at chicken differently if they worked at a poultry processing factory for a week.