DeLauro Statement on FDA Report on Antimicrobial Drugs in Food Producing Animals

WASHINGTON, DC (December 11, 2015) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) annual report summarizing the sales and distribution data of antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals.

“The news from the FDA is alarming. Since 2013, when the FDA asked drug makers to stop selling antibiotic drugs to farmers for the sole purpose of encouraging growth, the use of these drugs increased by 4% from 2013 to 2014. The FDA has found that drugs that serve no medical purpose other than to encourage the growth of animals are a danger to consumers around the country. Each year, millions of Americans become sick from antibiotic resistant infections that could be prevented if the industry curbed its wide use of growth antibiotics.

“Simply asking the pharmaceutical industry to stop this practice is not enough. While some drugs may serve a medical purpose for animals, many are simply being used to grow both the size of the livestock and the size of the pharmaceutical industry’s paycheck. Congress should put an end to this dangerous practice and keep American consumers healthy and safe.”

In 2013, the FDA issued Guidance for Industry #213, which sought to reduce the use of medically important antibiotics for growth-promotion in farm animals due to concerns that an injudicious use of antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals might lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance in human and animal bacterial pathogens. The suggestions issued by the guidance are voluntary and are not enforceable.

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