Statement of Coalition for Animal Health on Sierra Club and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy 12/10/2002
From: Ron Phillips of Animal Health Institute, 202-662-4130 WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 -- The "Poultry on Antibiotics" study released today by the Sierra Club and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy attempts to unduly alarm consumers by relying on self-generated data that has no meaning. In fact, U.S. chicken and turkey has less bacteria than ever before, according to national data from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). This reduction in bacteria has helped reduce food borne illness in the United States by 23 percent since 1996. The levels reported from the limited sample taken by the Sierra Club are far in excess of the national levels reported by FSIS. At the same time, the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), operated by USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show low and stable levels of resistant pathogens in animals and generally declining levels of resistant food borne pathogens in humans. Thus, the potential risk of antibiotic resistant pathogens transferring from animals to humans via the food supply is growing smaller all the time. While consumers should have the choice of purchasing organic food if they like, they should make this decision on the basis of sound information. Other studies have shown little difference in the incidence of pathogens or antibiotic resistant pathogens between raw poultry produced with antibiotics and that produced without antibiotics. Organic poultry is not "safer." What consumers should know is that proper handling and cooking of poultry kills all pathogens, whether or not they are resistant to antibiotics. Poultry producers take seriously the task of providing a safe and wholesome meat product to American consumers. That starts with the careful and judicious use of antibiotics to treat, prevent, and control animal disease and to keep animals healthy. Guidelines for the judicious use of antibiotics in animal agriculture have been written and are carefully observed. We support the use of scientific risk assessment to determine if a particular use needs to be eliminated because it presents a risk to the public. We support the NARMS program as an early-warning system to inform us about problems that might arise. The food safety and NARMS data collected by the government indicate these measures are working to produce a safe and wholesome product. Media contacts: Animal Health Institute, Ron Phillips, 202-662-4130 National Chicken Council, Richard Lobb, 202-296-2622, ext. 19 National Turkey Federation, Sherrie Rosenblatt, 202-898-0100, ext. 233 American Meat Institute, Janet Riley, 703-841-3635 Experts on Food Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance: Dr. Jim Dickson, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Iowa State University, 515-294-4733 Dr. Donald Reynolds, Associate Dean for Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, 515-294-0914 |