Featured Issue Briefs
The Battle on the Home Front: Jonathan Gadsden's Story
Marine Lance Corporal's story reflects the growing need for new antibiotics that can treat dangerous diseases, against which most drugs are useless. Read More
Facilitating Medical Device Innovation: De Novo Reform
The de novo process -- which requests lower-risk reclassification of medical devices and entry into the marketplace -- as it exists now is not achieving its purpose and has instead added unnecessary and time-consuming requirements. Read More
Food Products Recalled by FDA
Since President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law, at least 149 FDA-regulated food products have been recalled due to potential pathogenic contamination. Read More
More Issue Briefs
| Date | Issue Briefs | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 2010 |
Capitol Hill Briefing: Alternatives to Routine Antibiotic Use in Food AnimalsOn March 2, 2010, Pew hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill with Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch; Steve Ells, co-CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill; and other successful livestock producers and businesspeople who discussed how they sustain profitable ventures based on antibiotic-free meat production. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Mar 1, 2010 |
Antibiotic-Free Food Animal ProductionAs a result of increasing consumer demand, organic products have become more mainstream, appearing now in an estimated 73 percent of grocery stores. As availability of organic products has grown, consumption patterns have shifted to reflect this availability. Where consumption of organic goods used to be the lifestyle choice of a small group of consumers, today more than two-thirds of Americans admit to purchasing organic products occasionally. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 24, 2010 |
How Antibiotic Resistance HappensFrequent, low doses of antibiotics that are not strong enough to kill all bacteria encourage some bacteria to develop means of survival, or to become “resistant.” More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 24, 2010 |
Comprehensive Fact Sheet: Denmark’s Ban on Growth Promoting Antibiotics in Food AnimalsIn human medicine, antibiotic use is generally confined to treatment of illness. In contrast, antibiotics and other antimicrobials (drugs that kill microorganisms like bacteria) often are routinely given to food animals in the U.S. in order to grow animals faster and to compensate for unsanitary conditions on many industrial farms. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 22, 2010 |
Moving Towards Safer Credit CardsOn February 22, major new consumer protections took effect as part of the second implementation phase of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009. Just two practices addressed in this second phase will save American consumers at least $10 billion a year. The Pew Health Group's Safe Credit Cards Project is looking ahead to the third and final phase of the Credit CARD Act, to take effect August 22, 2010, which will require all credit card penalties to be “reasonable and proportional” and will direct card issuers to review all interest rate increases since the beginning of 2009. More info |
Credit Cards |
| Feb 19, 2010 |
Produce Safety Project: Stakeholders' Discussion Series MeetingsThe Food and Drug Administration announced in December 2009, that it was going to establish a nationwide produce safety standard for the growing, harvesting and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables and opened an official docket for comments in February 2010. More info |
Food Safety |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Industrial Farms and Antibiotic ResistanceBasic information on antibiotics, their use on industrial animal farms, and the problem of antibiotic resistance from the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Animals and Unnecessary Human Health RisksIn the United States, many food animals—poultry, swine and cattle—are routinely treated with antibiotics in order to grow animals faster and to compensate for unsanitary conditions on many industrial farms. Recently, major increases in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in human populations have led to public health concerns regarding antibiotic use for non-therapeutic purposes (i.e., not used to treat disease) in animals destined for food production. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Antibiotic Resistance and the Industrial Animal FarmAntibiotics are commonly prescribed drugs that kill bacteria or suppress their ability to grow, allowing the human immune system to respond and heal from illness. Antibiotic resistance is a dangerous bacterial trait which enables bacteria to survive and continue to grow instead of being inhibited or destroyed by therapeutic doses of the drug. As a result, antibiotic-resistant bacteria can evade the effects of the antibiotic and multiply, with severe consequences for human health. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Food Safety and the Antibiotic Resistance CrisisAccording to a first-ever study by professors at the University of Regina in the United Kingdom, U.S. food safety ranks seventh or “average” among 17 other industrialized nations. At least 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur each year in the U.S. While many health problems caused by contaminated food are not serious, some food-borne infections are much more dangerous, leading to convulsions, premature delivery and miscarriage, sepsis, or even death. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
