PORTSMOUTH, RI -- After the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report this week demonstrating that the federal government has not taken sufficient action to protect consumers against the misuse of antibiotics in food producing livestock, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is calling for swift action and much-needed reform. 

In an effort to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans, Reed wants to stop factory farms from misusing antibiotics that are vitally important to human health to promote faster growth in livestock and compensate for crowded, unsanitary conditions in industrial-size feedlots.

“The inappropriate use of antibiotics on animals can have negative health effects on families,” said Reed, a cosponsor of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act.  “The problem is that bacteria develops resistance to antibiotics.  That resistance can carry over to the human population, and we could find in the future that vital antibiotics are no longer effective in treating human disease.  That is very expensive as well as very threatening to the public health.”

Recent estimates suggest that 80 percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are used in animal agriculture.  The GAO report concluded that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the agency responsible for overseeing the manufacture and distribution of animal antibiotics, lacks the resources to effectively regulate the misuse of these drugs, which can allow bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics.

Reed today joined the Farm Credit Administration’s CEO Lee Strom for a visit to Escobar’s Highland Farm, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island where they saw first-hand the operations of a successful family agricultural business. 

“Large industrial dairy companies have crowded out many family run business, but Highland Farm and other Rhody Fresh co-op members continue to produce milk and other dairy products in a safe and sustainable way,” said Reed.  “They are great examples of how local farms can and should work together to compete.”

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which has been championed by Senators Reed and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), would preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics by restricting their use as additives in animal feed.  It would also require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to withdraw approval for nontherapeutic uses of antibiotics in food-producing animals two years after the enactment of this bill.