Research has recently shown that the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock is leading to an increase in antibiotic resistance in humans (CDC, 2021). According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), US cattle producers use antibiotics 3-6 times more intensively than European cattle producers. The majority of the antibiotics are used on feedlots, which are responsible for the fattening of calves for market. Poor living conditions and a heavy grain diet in these feedlots result in many cases liver abscesses and bovine respiratory disease (“shipping fever”). However, even with the large amount of antibiotic use to prevent these conditions, the prevalence of these and other diseases have increased. If we stand by and do nothing, we not only are looking at dealing with increasing antibiotic resistance in humans, but we are also looking at an increased cost to antibiotics in healthcare as well.

Unfortunately, curbing the use of antibiotics has moved very slowly at the federal level. In 2014, the White House released the National Strategy to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, but the Strategy has fallen short of its original goals and does not mandate data collection on how the antibiotics are being used. In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance documents that no longer allow antibiotics to be used for growth promotion in livestock. While there has been a large call for restrictions on nontherapuetic antibiotics in livestock from the public, it is not the White House or the FDA who is putting up the biggest fight on this issue.

One of the largest contributors to change is McDonald’s restaurants who have paired with beef suppliers, not only in the United States, but also in nine other countries, in order to control the amount of medically important antibiotics in their beef supply and are looking at reducing the numbers by the end of 2020. According the NRDC, the number of antibiotic free chickens used by major poultry producers increased from 50% in 2013 to more than 90% at the end of 2018. Because many of the fast-food companies that were responsible for this medically significant change are also major beef purchasers, we hope to see the same kind of change in the beef (and overall livestock) industry.

While the regulations at federal levels are taking slow steps at helping the cause, where we really need to see big change is in the way the feedlots are managed. Research shows that the introduction of vaccinations, the increasing of roughage in the calves’ diets, better living conditions before they are shipped, and developing a different protocol to avoid mixing different groups of cattle while in transit has increased the overall health of our livestock and decreased the need for additional antibiotics. This is such a large-scale production that we need change on all levels in order to see a real difference. Fortunately, there is a chance for us to make this difference by reaching out to large scale livestock consumers, such as fast food restaurants, and petitioning them to only purchase meat from antibiotic conscious producers in order to help protect not only our own health, but our healthcare system as well.

Please lend us your voice and help us make this change!