FACTORY-FARM DRUG DEALERS

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Thu., 3/1/01

Independent researchers
at the Union of Concerned
Scientists recently issued a
report revealing that livestock
are being fed even
more massive doses of
antibiotics than the drug
companies and industrialized
agribusiness corporations
have admitted.
The drugs are not used to
treat animal diseases, but
simply as a cheap way to
fatten the animals. While
3 million pounds of antibiotics
are used each year to
treat humans, the UCS
reports that industry feeds
3.7 million pounds to cattle,
10.3 million pounds to pigs,
and 10.5 million to poultry.
The nontherapeutic use
of antibiotics means fatter
profits for drug and livestock
producers, but it poses a
real danger to you and your
family’s health. Such overdosing
means that bacteria
with a natural resistance to a
given antibiotic survive in the
animals, becoming strains of
“superbugs” that can’t be
killed by that antibiotic.
The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control report that
salmonella bacteria are now
being found with immunity to
the antibiotic commonly used
to treat the most severe
cases of salmonella food
poisoning—an antibiotic
related to those used to fatten
livestock.
To stop this dangerous
profiteering, call the UCS:
202-332-0900.