Antibiotics in my meat?!

Hi friends! One concern that we as livestock producers hear a lot about is the use of antibiotics in the treatment of our animals. I'm sure you've even seen labels on your meat products at the store that advertise them as "Antibiotic free." Well, the truth is, ALL the meat that you buy is antibiotic free! You see, antibiotics have to be administered to livestock under what is called the "Veterinary Feed Directive," which means it is illegal to use medically-important antibiotics for any extralabel use. Antibiotics can only be administered under veterinary care! Under these guidelines, an animal has to wait a specified period of time (as directed by the label of the antibiotic) for withdrawal before the animal can go to slaughter to be processed for food. This means that the antibiotics have to work their way out of the animal's system before it is fit to eat. And then you have advertisements like this one here from Perdue, which tells you that their animals are never given any antibiotics. If no meat has antibiotics in it, what concern is it that they are never given antibiotics? Well, some people are concerned about the effect continual use of antibiotics will have on bacteria, that they may become resistant to the antibiotics and become "superbugs." While this is certainly something to be concerned about, it is important to note that the USDA and other organizations are tightening regulations regarding antibiotic use every day with orders like the Veterinary Feed Directive. It is also important to note that the types of diseases that livestock contract are rarely the same types of diseases that humans contract, so we don't have large cause of concern for getting a "superbug" from our livestock. There is always room for improvement in the way we raise our food animals, and we are working on fields like antibiotic use constantly. Producers will continue to try to bring the highest quality product to your table while also looking out for the best interest of the health of their animals.