LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Antibiotics: Animals
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Even within the industry... there is a growing movement to reduce at least the sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animals raised for food. Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms and Foster Farms, which collectively produce a third of the chicken Americans eat, recently declared their intention to greatly reduce the amount of antibiotics fed to healthy chicken. There is still no way for consumers to know whether one of these companies' chickens has been treated with antibiotics, although some corporate consumers, McDonald's, Wendy's and Popeye's among them, are refusing to buy chicken that has been treated with fluoroquinolones. Increased public pressure may cause the companies who grow animals for food to collectively decide that putting extra weight on feed animals isn't worth the possibility that they are putting consumers' health at risk.
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The increased use of antibiotics in animal production has gone hand-in-hand with the development of industrial-style livestock operations. Thousands of animals are crammed into the unhygienic, crowded quarters of a typical factory operation, and antibiotics are dispensed constantly through the animals' feed. Twenty-five million pounds of antibiotics are fed to American livestock annually. This is about 70% of the total amount of antibiotics produced in the U.S. each year and eight times more than the amount used as human medicine.
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The meat industry doesn't publicize its use of antibiotics, so accurate information on the amount of antibiotics given to food animals is hard to come by. Stuart B. Levy, M.D., who has studied the subject for years, estimates that there are 15-17 million pounds of antibiotics used sub-therapeutically in the United States each year. Antibiotics are given to animals for therapeutic reasons, but that use isn't as controversial because few argue that sick animals should not be treated.
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Aside from promoting growth, the routine use of antibiotics is ... necessary for preventing disease in conventional industrial farming systems. Modern industrial farms are ideal breeding grounds for germs and disease. Animals live in close confinement, often standing or laying in their own filth, and are under constant stress, which inhibits their immune systems and makes them more prone to infection. Because of these conditions, about half of the antibiotics used by farms are mixed into the feed of healthy animals in order to prevent disease.v
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Chemicals such as pesticides, antibiotics and hormones are used in plant and animal farming to boost production and ensure adequate food supply. However, residues can be harmful to humans if taken in large amounts. Chemical levels in Australia are set by food laws and monitored by random supermarket sample surveys.
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In 1986, Sweden opted to ban antibiotics from routine use in animal feed, reducing overall tonnage of antibiotics used by forty percent. Antibiotics are only given to farm animals for curing disease and after a veterinary prescription. Furthermore, Sweden claims to be the main European Union producer of salmonella-free chickens.
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