Opponents Have it Wrong on Antibiotics Use

A Kansas State University study - using data from a 2006 USDA swine survey and a 2009 survey of swine veterinarians - shows that about 1.6-million pounds of antibiotics are used in pork production for growth promotion/nutritional efficiency and disease prevention each year. That’s far less than the 10.3-million pounds a year claimed in a 2001 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to National Pork Producers Council President R.C. Hunt - that report - titled “Hogging It” - should have been titled “Fabricating It.” NPPC notes the KSU study found that overall antibiotic use - including for disease treatment - totaled 2.8-million pounds. That is 368-percent less than the amount asserted by the Union of Concerned Scientists for just growth promotion/nutritional efficiency and disease prevention. NPPC says the KSU study also belies the claim that 80-percent of all antibiotics sold are used to promote growth in livestock.

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