RE: Super bug bacteria in meat and poultry, study says
The actual report looked at food handling as a cause of the contmination, but presented rationale why that was an unlikely cause, particularly with the large number of samples from diverse origins. Antibiotics as a feed supplement are intented to allow the animals to grow without the growth inhibing stresses and diseases that the confined conditions would otherwise cause. References in the report and others easily found on the net all raise questions about the long term consequences of present use of antibiotics in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Aside from the meat and poultry itself, of concern is the high percentage of the antibiotics that are excreted and passed to the air, soil and water in the disposal of the excreta. The increasing dependence upon specific genetic strains in hogs and other animals to produce more uniform carcasses for meat processing intoroduces another concern about CAFOs, as well as the fact that animals are not an efficent source of protein. Contrasting with those concerns are concerns about feeding a growing world populaiton.
