The CDC estimates that around 28.4-47.6 million people catch some sort of known foodborne illness and 141.8 million catch a foodborne illness that is unspecified. In total, they estimate that around 486,777 people are hospitalized and 6,186 die from these foodborne illnesses. (CDC, 2018) The most common known viruses that consumers catch are Norovirus, Salmonella, Clostridium Perfringens, Campylobacter Spp., and Staphylococcus aureus. (CDC, 2018) According to the Minnesota Department of Health, A foodborne illness is an illness/sickness that is caused by consuming contaminated foods and beverages. (Minnesota Dept. of Health, n.d.) There are many different ways to prevent these illnesses. Some methods are practices for consumers like separating raw and cooked food, keeping your food clean, cooking your food thoroughly, and keeping your food at safe temperatures.(WHO, n.d) The food industry uses practices like Pasteurization, Pressure Washing, Using Chemicals and Antibiotics. The food industry in the US has many practices that are used to make consumption of their products more safer but more often than not, some of these practices can cause more harm than good. The practice of using antibiotics in livestock raising is one such practice that causes more harm than it helps.

Antibiotics are used in the food industry for many reasons. One of the most common reasons is to prevent and control diseases. The reason why infections are more prevalent is because of the stress that comes from conditions in the farms. According to D. Temple, E. Mainau, and X. Manteca, ¨The stress response includes several changes that may have negative effects on the performance of farm animals. These effects include changes in the immune function and increased susceptibility to disease, decreased feed intake and rumination, inhibition of oxytocin release, and reduced fertility, among others. ¨(D. Temple, E. Mainau, X. Manteca, 2015) Antibiotics are used to treat this susceptibility to disease and there are several different applications of it. According to Timothy Landers, ¨The different applications of antibiotics in food animals have been described as therapeutic use, prophylactic use, and subtherapeutic use.¨(T. F. Landers, B. Cohen, T. E. Wittum, E. L. Larson, 2012) According to the Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site, Therapeutic use is, ¨The use to treat clinically ill animals.¨(Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site, n.d.) Prophylactic use is described as treating an animal after trauma or surgery.(Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site, n.d.) Subtherapeutic use is using low amounts of antibiotics in feed to help prevent disease and promote weight gain in animals.(E.Barclay, Professor Hutt, 1998) While Subtherapeutic Use is very common in the meat industry, the practice has a potential to harm many.

Antibiotic use in animals is a bad practice because of their limits to fight bacteria and the dangerous consequences of overusing them. According to the NAMI, ¨Some antibiotics can be extremely effective against certain bacteria but may not work to treat other bacteria.¨(NAMI, n.d.) This is because some antibiotics target certain types of bacteria and this is done by targeting specific metabolic pathways unique to the type of bacteria. An example of this is Tetracyclines, they stop bacteria from growing by stopping protein synthesis. However, if the antibiotic doesn´t kill all the bacteria, this can cause resistance to the antibiotic in the bacteria. This is incredibly harmful because then the bacteria will be in the meat of the animal and if it isn't cooked or cleaned properly, it can cause an Antibiotic-Resistant Infections. These infections are really hard/expensive to treat, and have a high mortality rate. According to Ventola C. Lee, ¨Nearly two million Americans per year develop HAIs(Healthcare Associated Infections), resulting in 99,000 deaths, most due to antibacterial-resistant pathogens.¨(V. Lee, 2015) These infections pose a dangerous risk not only to consumers but people who work throughout the production chain in the food industry.

The use of antibiotics affects a lot of different groups in the food industry. According to L. Vegosen, ¨Pathogens are a food safety issue and are known to be present throughout the food animal production chain.¨(R. Neyra, L. Vegosen, M. Davis, L. Price, E. Silbergeld, 2012) The most known group that is affected is the consumers. One of the main ways that they are affected is through antibiotic resistant infections. According to CDC, ¨When animals are slaughtered and processed for food, resistant bacteria can contaminate meat or other animal products. Animal waste (poop) can contain resistant bacteria and get into the surrounding environment. Fruits and vegetables can get contaminated through contact with soil, water, or fertilizer that contains animal waste.¨(CDC, n.d.) Antibiotic Resistant Infections can be contracted through many different ways and sources. However, Antibiotics in the food industry doesn't just affect consumers; it affects Farmers, Workers, and Producers as well. Farmers who work with animals that have developed antibiotic resistance have a good chance of either spreading or catching antibiotic resistant bacteria. Workers who work at slaughterhouses are also vulnerable to these infections. According to OSHRI, ¨Workers employed at farms and slaughterhouses are at risk of pathogen exposure and bacterial infections.¨(R. Neyra, L. Vegosen, M. Davis, L. Price, E. Silbergeld, 2012) It affects animals as well. If animals develop antibiotic resistance, their diseases could be difficult to treat which could have dire consequences. ¨Lack of effective treatment for diseases will lead to suffering for the animals and welfare problems… ,¨ says Björn Bengtsson and Christina Greko. (B. Bengtsson, C. Greko, 2014) Clearly Antibiotic use is a problem all throughout the industry. OSHRI states, ¨The risk they represent has been most often considered in the context of food safety, but not in the context of occupational risk for workers who raise, transport, slaughter, and process animals into consumer food products. Yet, infection and carriage of pathogens are prevalent among animals raised for food, and pathogen contamination has been widely reported in consumer products on the wholesale and retail markets.¨(R. Neyra, L. Vegosen, M. Davis, L. Price, E. Silbergeld, 2012) Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria has been widely reported in consumer products on the wholesale and retail markets. This problem is increasingly affecting more and more people than ever before and poses one of the biggest health risks today.

There are several things that can be done about the use of antibiotics. According to Hannah Ritchie, ¨With good agricultural practices and effective policies, such examples highlight that significantly reduced antibiotic use (and risk of resistance) can be achieved alongside highly productive agricultural sectors. ¨(H. Ritchie, 2017) One of the best ways to reduce antibiotic use and stop antibiotic resistance is to practice safe health measures so that there isn't a prevalence of disease in the first place that would warrant antibiotics. According to the WHO, these measures include, ¨… improving hygiene, better use of vaccination, and changes in animal housing and husbandry practices.¨(WHO, 7 Nov 2017) Another option is to impose more restrictions and regulations on the uses of antibiotics. These restrictions will vary, but in general, they restrict the amount of antibiotics used, when you can use the antibiotics, and what antibiotics you can use. An example of one of these laws is requiring veterinarian permission to use antibiotics. According to Joe Paschal, ¨This means that your veterinarian knows who you are, knows the kind of livestock you are raising and what you are doing with them, understands your management, and that you agree if they come out to diagnose an illness and use an antimicrobial to treat a disease or illness, you will follow their directions including dosage, duration and withdrawal.¨(Kaitlyn.arnold & Kaitlyn.arnold, 2019) While consumers have little control over what happens to their meat, they do have the ability to prevent infections from antibiotic resistant diseases in their own home. Consumers can do this by practicing safety measures recommended by the CDC or WHO.

The uses of antibiotics in the food industry are incredibly harmful to consumers. Antibiotics are used to treat infections that are brought on by less than ideal conditions. This practice is dangerous because of the risk of developing resistance to antibiotics. The practice of using antibiotics in livestock affects the whole industry from the farmer to the consumer. While this practice is dangerous, having better conditions for animals, putting restrictions on use, and making sure that consumers have the knowledge to protect themselves, could change this practice. The use of antibiotics is an important way to treat life-threatening conditions and our overuse of antibiotics threatens our ways to treat them. By all counts, this practice is a threat to the livestock industry and everyone who consumes their products.

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