Food Animals

Turkeys, like other animals, get sick. And though few dispute that they should then be treated, many scientists, medical professionals and animal experts are concerned that too much medicine is being given to too many turkeys -- and to too many food animals in general. "The use and misuse are rampant," says Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch in Northern California and a member of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Those concerned fear serious human health consequences -- development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- and that this is already beginning to happen.

There is no market these days for horse meat in this country. The last horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. stopped production in 2007, the result of laws in Illinois and Texas banning horse slaughter or the sale of horse meat for human consumption. That same year, a congressional appropriations bill that included a rider banning the funding of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of horse meat went into effect. And without inspections, U.S. plants can't sell meat anywhere in the world.

How one regards abominable practices in the U.S. livestock business--such as the torturous lifelong confinement of virtually all calves raised for veal--has nothing to do with partisan politics. I, for example, am a conservative Republican (a beleaguered minority in Arkansas these days) who acknowledges the legitimacy of taking into account farming and other business interests when formulating public policy.

Amid all the cost-cutting and tax increasing that the Los Angeles City Council is proposing, there's one more thing the council would like you to give up: meat. Just on Mondays. The council unanimously approved a resolution last week endorsing the international “Meatless Monday” campaign that began as a nonprofit initiative of  the Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. The city will encourage residents to abstain from meat and go vegetarian one day a week for health and environmental reasons.  According to the campaign, cutting back on meat can reduce risks of  cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Only 20% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to people who are sick with bacterial infections, such as ear and urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Most of the penicillin, tetracycline and other antibiotic drugs used in this country are given to livestock that are perfectly healthy. Farmers have been putting these medicines in animal feed since the 1950s. They say the drugs help protect herds from infectious diseases and help animals grow faster. But for at least 40 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been concerned that the widespread practice may be fueling the growth of human pathogens that are no longer vulnerable to doctors' front-line drugs.

There is no market these days for horse meat in this country. The last horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. stopped production in 2007, the result of laws in Illinois and Texas banning horse slaughter or the sale of horse meat for human consumption. That same year, a congressional appropriations bill that included a rider banning the funding of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of horse meat went into effect. And without inspections, U.S. plants can't sell meat anywhere in the world.

Re "Sprawling Suburbs Adding to Nation's Obesity Problem, Researchers Say," Aug. 29: Two unmentioned causes: Hours per day spent in front of a TV or computer screen and weight-gain promoters (including hormones) given to food animals. Diana Amsden Santee

Your editorial concern (Jan. 19), "Food: Keep the Faith," for the continued safety of American meat, eggs and milk products is shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Action to eliminate deficiencies found in a congressional hearing last July is already well under way. Unfortunately, the recently published hearing report, on which you editorialized, did not reflect these improvements. Nor did the House subcommittee, in saying that a good many veterinary products are sold without pre-marketing approval; note that these include horse liniments, dog wormers, vitamins and minerals and so on--old products that have posed no danger to humans.

As a vegetarian and animal welfare/rights advocate, this article struck a chord with me. While Oliver shows sympathy and sensitivity for the plight of "food animals," he stops short in the process in that he still sees no problem in using other animals' bodies for human consumption. While it's nice to say be kind and give them a few feet to turn around, my question is why bring them into the world in the first place? Not only has it been proven that the production and consumption of meat is not a healthy practice, having been linked with most of the scourges in meat-eating societies, but it is also environmentally unsound and morally degrading.

AVOIDING the use of antibiotics in food animals appears to reduce drug resistance in humans, according to a study published online last week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study involved the use of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones in Australian poultry. Australia restricts use of the antibiotics in animal husbandry because the practice is thought to contribute to drug resistance in people who contract bacterial infections from eating contaminated food.

Only 20% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to people who are sick with bacterial infections, such as ear and urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Most of the penicillin, tetracycline and other antibiotic drugs used in this country are given to livestock that are perfectly healthy. Farmers have been putting these medicines in animal feed since the 1950s. They say the drugs help protect herds from infectious diseases and help animals grow faster. But for at least 40 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been concerned that the widespread practice may be fueling the growth of human pathogens that are no longer vulnerable to doctors' front-line drugs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited some unapproved uses of antibiotics in livestock on Wednesday. Farmers will no longer be able to administer a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins to cattle, pigs, chicken and turkeys in unapproved doses or frequencies, or as a means of preventing disease, the agency said. Also prohibited: using drugs not originally intended for use in livestock. Some limited extra-label use will still be permitted, including prescription drugs in less-commonly eaten animals such as rabbits and ducks.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel debated Monday whether to endorse the safety of genetically engineered salmon, but instead urged the agency to require more studies to demonstrate the fish's safety. The North Atlantic salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies Inc. of Waltham, Mass., would be the country's first genetically engineered food animal. The Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee did not vote on the FDA's preliminary findings that the fish was safe for people to eat and did not pose a significant environmental risk.

Turkeys, like other animals, get sick. And though few dispute that they should then be treated, many scientists, medical professionals and animal experts are concerned that too much medicine is being given to too many turkeys -- and to too many food animals in general. "The use and misuse are rampant," says Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch in Northern California and a member of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Those concerned fear serious human health consequences -- development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- and that this is already beginning to happen.

Re "Cloned beef: It's what's for dinner," March 4 This article presents the happy outcomes while minimizing the focus on the objections. For many, cloning one's foods is significantly different from such activities as stem cell research, which may be used to mitigate human suffering. Also, while the foods may be safe and identical, on a molecular or nutritional level, there is still a moral repugnance to this fare. Finally, the biggest objection may be that the government is willing to "stuff this down our throats" whether we approve or not. I am troubled by the Food and Drug Administration's position that there would be no need to label the cloned meats as such, depriving the marketplace of making a choice based on its own moral or ethical codes and of the opportunity to vote with its pocketbook.

AVOIDING the use of antibiotics in food animals appears to reduce drug resistance in humans, according to a study published online last week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study involved the use of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones in Australian poultry. Australia restricts use of the antibiotics in animal husbandry because the practice is thought to contribute to drug resistance in people who contract bacterial infections from eating contaminated food.

Re "Cloned beef: It's what's for dinner," March 4 This article presents the happy outcomes while minimizing the focus on the objections. For many, cloning one's foods is significantly different from such activities as stem cell research, which may be used to mitigate human suffering. Also, while the foods may be safe and identical, on a molecular or nutritional level, there is still a moral repugnance to this fare. Finally, the biggest objection may be that the government is willing to "stuff this down our throats" whether we approve or not. I am troubled by the Food and Drug Administration's position that there would be no need to label the cloned meats as such, depriving the marketplace of making a choice based on its own moral or ethical codes and of the opportunity to vote with its pocketbook.

Amid all the cost-cutting and tax increasing that the Los Angeles City Council is proposing, there's one more thing the council would like you to give up: meat. Just on Mondays. The council unanimously approved a resolution last week endorsing the international “Meatless Monday” campaign that began as a nonprofit initiative of  the Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. The city will encourage residents to abstain from meat and go vegetarian one day a week for health and environmental reasons.  According to the campaign, cutting back on meat can reduce risks of  cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Re "Sprawling Suburbs Adding to Nation's Obesity Problem, Researchers Say," Aug. 29: Two unmentioned causes: Hours per day spent in front of a TV or computer screen and weight-gain promoters (including hormones) given to food animals. Diana Amsden Santee

On a Santa Cruz Island bluff high over the ocean, Sam Spaulding looked helplessly among ragged holes and uprooted fennel plants at scattered mounds of Chumash artifacts. "This chunk of material is not in its natural state," said Spaulding, an archeologist for Channel Islands National Park. "The pigs moved it. It's out of place, out of time. It doesn't have any credible place in the story of this site. It's like ripping the page out of a book."