IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 2
Use in Food Producing Animals." 114 In it, the FDA noted that the weight
of the evidence, particularly in the past decade, indicates there is a
relationship between use of antibiotic feed additives as growth promoters
and resistance buildup in bacteria previously susceptible to the antibiotics,
and that this evidence is sufficient to take the measures it proposed. The
agribusiness and animal health industry interpreted the published
framework as an overreaction by the FDA and called for more research. 115
In its proposal, the FDA noted European studies published since 1993,
which showed that comparisons of vancomycin resistance in organically
reared poultry, and in conventionally reared poultry fed avoparcin as a
growth promoter, found no vancomycin-resistant enterococci in
organically reared birds organic standards forbid feeding antibiotics but
detected vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in the majority of
conventionally reared birds. 116 The investigators also compared
conventional swine and poultry flocks that did and did not use avoparcin
and found a strong, statistically significant association between the
presence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in the animals and use of
avoparcin as a growth promoter. 117
In March 1999, fifty scientists and forty-one public interest groups called
on the FDA to ban the use of certain antibiotics as growth promoters. 118
On November 9, 1999, Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with
Representatives Henry Waxman and Louise Slaughter, introduced H.R.
3266, "to direct that essential antibiotic drugs not be used in livestock
unless there is a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health." 119
Progress in Europe
Between 1985 and 1999, the most progressive developments in preserving
the efficacy of antibiotics for human and animal health occurred in Europe.
In 1986, Sweden enacted a total ban on the use of antibiotics as
subtherapeutic feed additives for disease prevention and growth
promotion. 120 Although they had requested the ban, Swedish farmers had
not anticipated the health and economic impacts that were to follow.
On many piglet-producing farms, withdrawal of antibiotics from feeds
unmasked disease pressures that low-level antibiotic use had kept
"hidden." Small pigs became sick and died from weaning diarrhea, or
"scours." It would have been possible simply to substitute another kind of
additive (such as zinc) for the missing antibiotics, and some farmers did
this. But these substitutions have the potential to create pollution
problems. Meanwhile, it was noted that some farms, having a high level of
hygiene and using straw in the pens, escaped the adverse impacts and had
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