Reuters — Two U.S. lawmakers are calling for action to rein in antibiotic use in livestock in response to a Reuters investigation showing how top U.S. poultry firms have been administering drugs to their flocks. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she plans to introduce new legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to collect […] Read more
U.S. lawmakers want to curb antibiotic use on farms
Farmaceuticals: Poultry firms systematically feed low-dose antibiotics to flocks
Atlanta/Chicago | Reuters — Major U.S. poultry firms are administering antibiotics to their flocks far more pervasively than regulators realize, posing a potential risk to human health. PART 1 OF A SERIES: Visit Part 2 and Part 3 here, or view the series in full HERE. Internal records examined by Reuters reveal that some of […] Read more
Farmaceuticals: Problems at Foster Farms plants emerged amid salmonella outbreak
Livingston, Calif. | Reuters — Sanitation problems at a slaughterhouse can promote the spread of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” by allowing dangerous bacteria to remain on meat that is shipped into the food supply. In the poultry industry, salmonella is a particular risk. PART 2 OF A SERIES: Visit Part 1 and Part 3 here, or view […] Read more
Zoetis gets conditional license from USDA for PEDv vaccine
Chicago | Reuters –– Zoetis Inc. has received a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its vaccine against the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) and will begin selling it this month in the U.S., the company said Wednesday. Shares of Zoetis, the world’s largest animal-health company, reached an all-time high of US$36.65 […] Read more
Tyson looks for other pork export markets after China ban
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods plans to find other export markets for its pork products after a recent delivery to China triggered an export ban of half its U.S. hog slaughterhouses, the company told Reuters Friday. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced earlier this week that China was barring future pork imports from six U.S […] Read more
BPI reopens plant as ‘pink slime’ lawsuit proceeds
Chicago | Reuters — Beef Products Inc. will reopen a Kansas processing plant on Monday to boost production of “lean finely textured beef,” which critics call “pink slime,” as wholesale beef prices soar with a shrinking U.S. cattle herd. The reopening of the Garden City, Kansas, plant comes more than two years after it was […] Read more
Panel’s report likely to tie farm antibiotics to human resistance
Reuters — A White House advisory committee is expected to acknowledge the link between antimicrobial resistance in humans and livestock being fed antibiotics when it issues its report in the next few weeks, according to the transcript of a committee meeting held earlier this month. But how much of the public health problem can be […] Read more
USDA sued over drug-resistant salmonella in meat
Reuters — A consumer group on Wednesday accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture of putting the public’s health at risk by allowing meat with antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella to be sold to consumers, according to a lawsuit filed against the agency. The allegation came in a complaint filed by Center for Science in the Public […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cooling wholesale pork prices send hog, cattle futures tumbling
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs futures fell three cents, as much as the market allows, on Friday as wholesale pork pricing cooled and cash hog prices weakened. CME feeder and live cattle prices also fell sharply in response. Livestock traders worried that wholesale prices of bacon and pork chops may still […] Read more
Merck wants to test Zilmax on 240,000 cattle but beef industry resists
Chicago | Reuters — Merck & Co Inc. wants to feed its controversial feed additive Zilmax to 240,000 U.S. cattle to prove it is safe. But there is a problem: giant meat processors like Cargill Inc don’t want to touch animals fed with the drug. Merck plans to conduct the biggest ever test of its […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
