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For Immediate Release
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FDA Turns Down Petitions to Withdraw Medically Important Antibiotics from Animal Agriculture

Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson

WASHINGTON

We are disappointed that, after 12 long years, the FDA rejected our petition and a more recent petition to ban non-medical uses of antibiotics in animals. The industry's irresponsible use of antibiotics in livestock increases the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and those germs can cause infections in humans that are difficult or impossible to treat. The industry has long failed to cooperate voluntarily, and the FDA should take binding action. Consumers cannot afford another decade of delay.

Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science.