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Restaurant chains pledge reduction in antibiotics to Obama admin

Critics argue that antibiotics are still a problem in agriculture.

June 4, 2015

Representatives from the restaurant, food, hospital and professional medical industries met Tuesday with the Obama administration to discuss antibiotic use and resistance. By the end of the meeting, organizations represented pledged to reduce and resist the use of lifesaving antibiotics due to waning effectiveness from overuse, according to The New York Times. 

Antibiotic resistance is now considered a public health crisis that kills approximately 23,000 Americans a year, of the two million whose illnesses are unreceptive to treatment. President Obama’s science advisers announced a national strategy in the fall to control the overuse of antibiotics in hopes of quelling the crisis, the article said, the first time a presidential administration has tackled the issue. But some critics argue the strategy has failed to resolve the use of antibiotics in agriculture, and advocate for more regulation.

McDonald's and Chick-fil-A are among major clients of food producers that have pressured the industry to produce antibiotic-free meat. Consumer demand for drug-free meat has climbed, The New York Times said, "at a faster pace than the efforts of federal agencies."

The Food and Drug Administration, however, announced a new ruling requiring farmers to obtain a prescription for antibiotics from veterinarians, and instructed doctors to follow state guidelines. Guidelines set by the American Veterinary Medical Association suggest veterinary oversight on antibiotic treatment and limited administration of the medicine to animals that are sick, the article said.