Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have shown that Listeria responds to an antibiotic, despite the pathogen carrying genes that should make it highly resistant.
Their study report, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, reports that the susceptibility of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes to the antibiotic is complex and involves interactions between resistance and…
Every year more than 400,000 people in America get sick from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria, which cause more serious illnesses than other pathogens found in food.
People infected by antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria can develop symptoms that are harder treat and more severe, leading to more hospitalizations and deaths than non-resistent pathogens, according to …
Poultry, antibiotics, Ionophores and activities with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were among the subjects of April meetings between Al Almanza, administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and people outside the federal government.
Almanza’s public calendar for April included five meetings, four before Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was confirmed by the…
Editor’s Note: Food Safety News Washington D.C. correspondent Lydia Zuraw for the past two and one half years will after today be found reporting for nonprofit Kaiser Health News. She was kind enough to leave us some departing thoughts on the work she did for our readers.
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During my time with Food Safety News…
The increasing global attention to the threat of antibiotic resistance has spurred research and development of antimicrobial alternatives. Once such alternative is bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. There are thousands of different types and they are so abundant in the environment – an estimated 1030 live on the planet –…
It’s impossible to say what will be the big food safety story of 2016. The ultimate unpredictable is what foodborne outbreaks will dominate the headlines and how they may impact policy decisions. But we’ve done our best to list the regulatory activities to keep on your radar for the coming year. FSMA: The Food Safety…
It’s difficult to summarize what happened on the animal antibiotics front this year. There were lots of pledges, lots of discussions and lots of reports, but not very many actions. Still, we still wanted to recap what happened in the 2015 regarding animal antibiotics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that antibiotic-resistant…
Papa John’s is the latest fast-food chain to announce plans to cut out antibiotics from its chicken production. But while McDonald’s set a two-year timeline, Chick-fil-A set a five-year timeline, and Subway was criticized for setting no timeline at all, the pizza chain is pledging to be antibiotic-free by next summer. Papa John’s will be…
According to newly released federal data, sales of medically important antimicrobials used in food-producing animals in the U.S. increased by 3 percent in 2014 and by 23 percent between 2009 and 2014. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its summary of the information animal drug sponsors are required by the Animal Drug…
If you want to reduce something, a good place to start is with a target. That’s what the U.K.’s Review of Antimicrobial Resistance suggests in its new report on antibacterial use in agriculture. More antibiotics are used on animals than humans, and bacteria that become drug-resistant as the result of overuse can infect humans…
The Food and Drug Administration has released draft guidance recommending a common format for the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) form. Last June, FDA published the final rule regarding the VFD, which brings the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals under veterinary supervision so that they are used only when necessary for assuring animal health. During…
