2 ms·
> maintain poultry health and welfare That's a little deceptive. The antibiotics widely used by the industry are used for growth promotion. I don't know how it
by wahern 2y ago
> maintain poultry health and welfare
That's a little deceptive. The antibiotics widely used by the industry are used for growth promotion. I don't know how it works, but I don't believe it's because they're keeping the birds healthy--i.e. treating infections. Some sources suggest part of the mechanism is by suppressing otherwise healthy or benign gut microbiota that compete for calories. Antibiotics have been used this way for nearly a century. There have been attempts to phase out subtherapeutic antibiotic use, but the practice is standard operating procedure in the US, and the US is a major chicken exporter. It's banned in the EU, though.
- shkkmo 2y agoOf course it's at least a little deceptive, it's from an industry association PR page. When I said anti-biotics are used as a preventative measure, that wasn't meant to exclude their use for other non-medical purposes, but that's a more complicated argument. I posted that, not because it is an unbiased source, but because if even that biased of a source admits it, then it's hard to dispute.