Mike Lemanski

Antibiotics are given to cows, chickens, and pigs — and it's hurting everyone's health.

Farmers feed their herds antibiotics, and not just when they're sick. On factory farms, for example, healthy broiler chickens ingest small doses of antibiotics (the same ones we need to cure human diseases) in their food daily to help them grow faster and prevent them from getting sick. "This would be like if your kids were going to day care and you said, 'Let's give them some antibiotics, just in case,'" says Gail Hansen, a public health advocate with the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming. Because the doses are so low, the antibiotics don't kill bacteria. Instead, the germs develop resistance. Then the bugs are passed to humans (see right). Farming-industry groups point out that this practice is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But there has been some news on that front recently: The FDA has announced it's working with drug companies and farmers to phase out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion over the next few years. Their aim is to require a vet's assessment to dole out meds. "There is much more that lies ahead," says FDA deputy commissioner for foods Michael Taylor, "but this is an important step."

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