Canada’s chicken industry leaders are nervously monitoring consumer reaction in the wake of accusations by an influential television investigative program that industry overuse of antibiotics is a public health threat.“There’s concern out there about it,” Chicken Farmers of Canada executive director Mike Dungate said. “But people still say they are going to eat chicken.”He said CFC did a consumer survey before the program aired and are doing another survey this week “to see what the initial reaction is.”He said he expects impact on sales will be minimal but if that assumption is wrong, CFC may have to launch a counter-offensive on efforts the industry is taking to reduce antibiotic use “to address the consumer confidence issue.”In the Superbugs in the Supermarket television program, CBC Marketplace tested 100 chicken packages from several supermarkets across the country and reported that 75 percent of them tested positive for antibiotic-resistant superbugs.It quoted health specialists who argued that Canadians infected with antibiotic-resistant bugs are more vulnerable and harder to treat.Marketplace connected it to the chicken industry and its practice of feeding chicks antibiotics to make them healthy and grow faster.“While we’ve all heard that over prescription of antibiotics to people is one cause of the resistance, what many Canadians don’t know is that another major cause is because the animals we eat are also given large amounts of antibiotics,” Marketplace says on its website promoting the program. “And not just when they’re sick. Healthy animals can be fed antibiotics every day because it makes them grow bigger, faster.”Dungate said the CBC overstated the case and targeted chicken because it is Canada’s most popular meat.“There isn’t a direct causal link between use of antibiotics on farms and anti-microbial resistant bacteria.”However, he conceded that antibiotic use in the industry is part of the problem.“While there isn’t what I call conclusive evidence, there is enough out there that with use of any antibiotic, whether in human medicine or for animal medicine, you’re going to create a better opportunity for resistance to occur. Everybody along the chain has to be vigilant.”Dungate said the industry is committed to reducing use of the drug and has spent $5 million during the past seven years on the issue of antibiotic resistance and alternative drug options.“It is by far the biggest area and focus of poultry research.”
Chicken farmers on edge following news report of antibiotics overuse
By
explore
Stories from our other publications
