Campaign groups have criticised UK hospital and school caterers for not doing enough to prevent farmers from overusing antibiotics in their animals which increases the risk of antibiotic resistance. After analysing 10 of the country’s largest caterers’ policies, health and welfare campaigners found that the lack of a ban has resulted in weak or absent controls regarding antibiotic use. The government, suppliers and caterers have said that voluntary measures work effectively.
The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics (ASOA), a group of medical, environmental and animal welfare organisations concerned about the continued overuse of antibiotics, assessed 10 UK caterers that supply the education sector, NHS, prisons, and care homes. The group found “weak or non-existent” policies on antibiotic use, which falling below the standards set by those in the commercial food sector.
The alliance discovered that there is no current requirement of responsible antibiotic use in the government’s procurement standards for the public sector. Despite Defra’s (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) proposal to ban routine antibiotic use on farms, the department has contracts with one such “non-making a significant effort” company, which the alliance criticizes.
Antibiotics are commonly used on farms to protect animals from disease, but concerns have arisen that the industry is often limiting their use unnecessarily, particularly on healthy, intensively farmed animals. As a result, the government, agriculture and industry in the UK have established voluntary measures to limit antibiotic use.
Government officials worldwide have agreed with the need to reduce antibiotic use to restrict the emergence of superbugs, and this includes the use in both human and animal health. ASOA has been worried for a long time that continued antibiotic overuse could render lifesaving medicines nearly ineffective. Some 1.25 million people worldwide are calculated to die each year from the emergence of new superbugs resulting from overuse. The UK sees over 7,500 deaths annually from drug-resistant infections; it is feared that these numbers could increase, leading to the development of new medicines that cannot keep up with the emergence of the new infections.
The BBC stated that the caterers they approached for comment either openly committed to reducing the inappropriate use of antibiotics in their supply chains or pointed out that they were fully compliant with the government buying standards for food and catering services. However, campaigners insist that changes in current policy are required to prevent significant harm
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