Livestock producers increased their use of antibiotics by 16 percent between 2009 and 2012, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Amidst campaigns to reduce antibiotic use in animals because of the possible reduction of the effectiveness in human health, the Animal Health Institute said “National sales information is limited in its use and does not necessarily correlate to national resistance trends.”
Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said, “We now have a more complete picture of how the agriculture industry uses antibiotics. As we feared, the data show that we have a lot of work to do to ensure antibiotics are used responsibly. I hope to continue to work with the agriculture industry and FDA to ensure that the use of medically important antibiotics in agriculture decreases under new judicious use policies.”

▪ Food and Drug Administration — FDA Annual Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed in 2012 for Use in Food-Producing Animals
▪ — Estimates of Antibacterial Drug Sales in Human Medicine
▪ 2012 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals