Drop in Antibiotic Sales for Livestock
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have released new data documenting a decline in the amount of medically important antibiotics being sold for use in food-producing animals in the USA. The report outlines that domestic sales and distribution of these antibiotics for livestock use has in fact decreased by 33% from 2016 – 2017 and by 43% since sales peaked in 2015. However, the provided figures only represent sales and distribution data not how the drugs were used on livestock.
In 2017, the Under Guidance for Industry (GFI) implemented a new rule (#213) detailing that important antibiotics for human medicine can no longer be used for growth promotion or feed efficiency in cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and other livestock. In addition, veterinary oversight is now required for 95% of medically important antibiotics used for therapeutic purposes in animal water and feed, according to The University of Minnesota.
However, despite the declining trend, there are still concerns about high antibiotic use in pigs and cows. The Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) reported that beef and pork industries remain high users of these drugs, accounting for 2 million kg in sales in 2017, compared to 268,000 kg in poultry.
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Whilst antibiotic sales dropped over the 2017 period, Fluoroquinolone antibiotics increased by 24%. Randox Food’s Antimicrobial Array II Plus detects six classes of antimicrobial compounds from a single sample: Ceftiofur, Thiamphenicol, Streptomycin, Tylosin, Tetracycline, and Quinolones. Our range of ELISA kits such as our Quinolones ELISA or Tetracycline Sensitive ELISA help your laboratory to accurately detect controlled drug residues in a range of sample types.
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