From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Food Animals  

Description: Audio interview by GAO staff with John Neumann, Director,
Natural Resources and Environment 

Related GAO Work: GAO-17-192: Antibiotic Resistance: More Information
Needed to Oversee Use of Medically Important Drugs in Food Animals

Released: March 2017

[ Background Music ]

[ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and
information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's March
2017. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are one of the biggest threats to
global health, making an estimated 2 million people sick every year in
the United States alone. There is strong evidence that using antibiotics
in the animals we eat such as cattle, poultry, and swine causes some of
this antibiotic resistance. A team led by John Neumann, a director in
GAO's Natural Resources and Environment team, recently looked at federal
government oversight of antibiotic use in meat and poultry products.
Sarah Kaczmarek sat down with John to talk about what they found.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] How's the government managing how much antibiotics
farmers and veterinarians use to treat the animals that we eat like
cattle and poultry?

[ John Neumann: ] Well, first as a backdrop, farmers and others are
using antibiotics in a variety of ways including to control or prevent
disease, as well as to promote faster weight gain in food animals. Since
we last looked at this issue is 2011, federal agencies have taken a
number of steps to better manage the use of antibiotics in the food
supply. For example FDA, which regulates the sale and distribution of
antibiotics, revised its guidance to industry to increase veterinary
supervision for medically important antibiotics. Those are used both to
treat human and animal infections. Also USDA, which is responsible for
the safety of meat and poultry, took steps to gather additional data on
antibiotic use at the farms.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] What do you see here as the risks to consumers of
too much or a lot of antibiotic use in the food supply?

[ John Neumann: ] Well there's growing evidence that there's a link
between overuse of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance both in humans
and animals.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] So these challenges can't be something the U.S.
alone is struggling with. What have other countries done that the U.S.
could adapt or apply here?

[ John Neumann: ] Well we looked at several other countries that have
faced similar challenges to the U.S. and managing the use of antibiotics
in the food supply. For example countries like Canada, Denmark, and the
Netherlands which have all taken steps to increase their oversight of
the use of antibiotics. For example, they've been collecting farm
specific data and they've established targets to reduce the use of
antibiotics. It was interesting for us when we visited the Netherlands
to go to what they considered to be a model pig farm where they show
producers how to use alternative farming practices to reduce reliance on
antibiotics and yet allow the animals to remain healthy. But the U.S.
industry and the federal government officials we spoke with were a
little skeptical about whether or not these practices would apply to the
U.S. in all cases. For example establishing specific targets to reduce
the use of antibiotics, they felt could have unintended consequences on
animal welfare for example. And given the size and scale of the U.S.
production, they weren't sure that these practices would be as
applicable. However there are a number of U.S. producers that have taken
steps to eliminate antibiotics in their foods.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Those are some interesting examples. So when a
foodborne illness breaks out, is the government actually going out to
farms that were the source of the problem and conducting an
investigation?

[ John Neumann: ] In short, no. FDA and USDA have not gone on the farms
to investigate the source of the foodborne illness as of yet. We found
that they had limited authority to do so and required permission from
the farmers to be able to get on the farm. So we made a recommendation
to those agencies that they work with stakeholders to come up with a
framework when an on-farm investigation is needed.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Did your report make other recommendations as well?

[ John Neumann: ] We did, we also recommended that FDA and USDA take
additional steps, develop metrics to know if they're achieving their
goals of collecting better data on antibiotic use.

[ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] What do you see here as the bottom line of this
report, especially for consumers of meat and poultry products?

[ John Neumann: ] Consumers should stay informed about antibiotic use in
their food supply and hopefully with additional efforts from USDA and
FDA, food producers and others will know how to use antibiotics
judiciously.

[ Background Music ]

[ Narrator: ] To learn more, visit GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the
next episode of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the congressional
watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office.