wholly s–t

Consumers, wary of harmful affects, have been shying away from meat and dairy products that may contain antibiotics.  However, new research is showing that they may be ingested in our produce, even organic.

Because of the conditions that livestock are raised, meat producers have long used antibiotics to foster mass growth and stave off infections and and other diseases that are a result of the confined living quarters.  The metabolism process of the antibiotics resulted in high percentages being found in the meat, itself.  

Unfortunately, many produce farmers use the excrement from those treated animals as their fertilizer.  The antibiotic residue released in the manure can be absorbed by produce. 

A study done using corn, green onions and lettuce found that the in as little as six weeks, the mature plants had absorbed the antibiotics used in the raising of the livestock.  And, as the percentage of antibiotics in the manure increased, an equal amount present in the produce increased.

Around 90 percent of these drugs that are administered to animals end up being excreted either as urine or manure,” said Holly Dolliver, a member of the Minnesota research team and now a professor of crop and soil sciences at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. “A vast majority of that manure is then used as an important input for 9.2 million hectares of (U.S.) agricultural land.”

Manure, widely used as a substitute for chemical fertilizer, adds nutrients that help plants grow. It is often used in organic farming.

Obviously, the clearest public health implication from treating livestock with antibiotics is the development of resistant bacteria that reduces the effectiveness of human medicine. Past studies have shown overuse of antibiotics reduces their ability to cure infections. Over time, certain antibiotics are rendered ineffective.  Most physicians also agree that the over use of antibiotics is the reason for the increasing numbers of asthma and allergies in children over the last 20 years.

Tainted manure does not stop at infecting our produce.  It is also able to be absorb through the soil into our water supply.  Another likely scenario is making all the other animals in the ecosystem (field mice, rabbits and foxes), that forage in the fields, resistant to antibiotics.  The affect is either over-population or transmission of a deadly bacteria through contact with one of these animals.

The problem is expected to get worse as the FDA has relaxed the requirements surrounding the raising of livestock.  Just recently, they approved the use of cefquinome for animals.  This is one of the strongest antibiotics on the market.  Who knows what the result would be of a microbe resistant to this.

As always, the best solution is to go to Farmer’s Markets or grow your own produce.  In either case, you can choose what goes into your body either by controlling it yourself or choosing a farmer that most closely follows a growth system you support.

The study can be found HERE, via Environmental Health News