FDA: Livestock antibiotic usage falls by one-third

FDA: Livestock antibiotic usage falls by one-third

Agri-Pulse
By Spencer Chase

Usage of medically important antibiotics in food production has fallen sharply in the wake of new restrictions on how farms can employ the drugs, the Food and Drug Administration says.   Sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials dropped 33 percent between 2016 and 2017 and have declined 41 percent since 2015,  the peak year for usage, according to FDA data released Tuesday....Gottlieb noted that 2017 was the first year medically important antimicrobials “were no longer allowed to be used for growth promotion and could only be obtained through a veterinarian’s order.”  FDA’s Guidance #213 was intended to end the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion