This week the Food and Drug Administration asked the nation's agriculture industry to use fewer antibiotics in livestock, citing the ever-growing concern of bacteria becoming resistant to our most commonly used pharmaceutical weapons. But it's been asking the same thing for 30 years. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the principal deputy commissioner of the FDA, issued the statement (pdf) requesting that farms use antibiotics only to maintain the health of their livestock, not—as antibiotics have been used for so long—to help them grow faster.
The FDA guidance applies to antibiotics deemed "medically important" because they also are useful in treating human illness. It calls on meat producers to consult more closely with veterinarians about when to use drugs and which compounds to employ [Los Angeles Times].
However, the ideas laid out in the FDA's draft guidance statement are little more than requests right now, and rules with force behind them haven't gotten ...
