The Obama administration is teaming up with 150 private companies and groups to rein in antibiotics in the U.S. food supply.
During a White House summit on antibiotic use this week, voluntary pledges poured in from 150 food processors, restaurant chains, hospitals and drug companies to phase out the use of meat from animals treated regularly with antibiotics.
Scientists and medical doctors have consistently warned that the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals has decreased the effectiveness of “miracle drugs” that once were potent against bacterial infections.
The White House issued a memorandum directing the 350 federal government cafeterias nationwide to begin using low-antibiotic food starting the first of next year.
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At the same time, companies ranging from Tyson Foods and Perdue, to McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A joined the effort to produce and provide low antibiotic meat to their customers in the private sector.
Wal-Mart is already asking it’s meat suppliers to make details of its annual antibiotic use public.
“This is music to our ears,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(READ more at the New York Times)
Photo: Secretary of State John Kerry pays for his lunch at the State Department cafeteria
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