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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Researchers find animal antibiotics in vegetables
  • Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 12:11:24 -0700


Researchers find animal antibiotics in vegetables
By Ahmed ElAmin
nutraingredients.com

11/22/2005 - Antibiotics given to livestock can end up in vegetables and
pose a health threat to consumers, according to a study looking at the use
of animal manure as a fertilizer.

The University of Minnesota study will add to the level of public concern
about the food the eat. It also serves as a warning to food processors
that they need to be vigilant when sourcing their vegetables.

The processing industry is under regulatory and consumer pressure to
ensure the safety of their food products. Regular breakdowns in food
safety and reports on contamination have raised consumer awareness about
the problem.

The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, indicates
that processors will have to be careful when sourcing their vegetables,
whether non-organic or organic. The contamination threat is due to the US
laws allowing farmers to use animal manure as fertilizer in both
conventional and organic agriculture.

In the study, University of Minnesota researchers found that corn,
cabbage, and green onions absorbed chlortetracycline from manure
fertilizer obtained from pigs that were given the antibiotic.

Chlortetracycline is a member of the tetracycline class of antibiotics
that are used in human medicine to treat upper respiratory tract
infections and other illnesses. Tetracyclines and other antibiotics also
are used as feed additives in poultry, hogs and beef cattle.

Feed additives are not used to treat disease, but to promote slightly
faster growth and to compensate for overcrowded and unsanitary conditions
on industrial-scale farms.

When the antibiotics are ingested by a human they can spur the bacteria
naturally present in the intestinal tract, including types of bacteria
that can cause serious disease, to become drug-resistant, the researchers
stated.

"Vegetarians may think the huge overuse of antibiotics in livestock and
poultry will not affect them, but that's not true for two reasons," stated
Margaret Mellon, the director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Food
and Environment Program. "Consumers eating vegetables grown on soil
fertilized with manure may be unknowingly ingesting antibiotics. Even more
importantly, resistant bacteria that are created on the farm can
contaminate air, water and soil that can travel significant distances."

While raw and composted manure may be used with little restriction in
conventional agriculture, the US Department of Agriculture's rules
requires that manure used in organic farming be composted or be applied at
least 90 days before harvest. In the study, the crops were harvested
within only 42 days, so the findings may not apply to organic vegetables,
the researchers stated.

Demand for organic foods has increased by almost 17 per cent over the past
year, according to a report this week by Whole Foods Market. The latest
survey commissioned by leading organic supermarket reveals that about
two-thirds of the US' consumers bought organic goods in 2005, compared to
just over half in both 2003 and 2004.




  • [Livingontheland] Researchers find animal antibiotics in vegetables, Tradingpost, 11/30/2005

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