32 Agricultural Harm to the Environment
Control, 76 million people in the US fall ill each year from foodborne illness, of
whom more than 300,000 are hospitalized and 5000 die.^33
The costs of foodborne illnesses are massive. For the US, the Institute for
Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) and the World Health Organization estimates them to be between $34
and $110 billion dollars per year. In the UK, the government’s Food Standards
Agency estimates that each of the annual 5 million cases of food poisoning costs
on average £85 for costs to health services and losses to businesses, putting the
annual cost at more than £400 million. These data suggest that one in four Amer-
icans and one on ten Britons suffer from food poisoning each year.^34
Some of these foodborne illnesses arise from shellfish, others are associated
with mass catering or occur in the food processing chain. But it is the initial sources
of infection on the farm, combined with the overuse of antibiotics for growth
promotion, that is an increasing source of disquiet. The concentration of livestock
into factory feedlots, broiler sheds and colossal pig units promotes infection and
spread. As the WHO puts it ‘the greatest risk appears to be the production of ani-
mal foods. It is from this source that the most serious health threats originate, for
instance, Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.coli and Yersinia.’ The pool of infection at
the start of the food chain is now very serious. The USDA has found very high
levels of microbial infections in US farm animals, particularly in broiler chickens
and turkeys. Clostridium has been found in 30–40 per cent of flocks, Campylo-
bacter in nearly 90 per cent, Salmonella in 20–30 per cent, and Staphylococcus in 65
per cent. These levels of infection are matched in some European countries, with
more than 90 per cent of pig herds and nearly 50 per cent of cattle in The Nether-
lands and Denmark contaminated with Campylobacter. At these levels of incidence
in animals, it is hardly surprising that illness incidence from meat consumption is
so high. Incidence in pigs and cattle is much lower, but still a worrying 3–30 per
cent of herds for these four pathogens (Table 2.1).
This extraordinary problem, slipping quietly behind a desire for ever-cheaper
foods, is worsened by antibiotic resistance brought on by overuse of antibiotics for
livestock growth promotion and over-prescription in medicine. Twenty-three
thousand tonnes of antibiotics are used in the US each year, of which 11 thousand
are given to animals, four-fifths of which is just for growth promotion. In the UK,
1200 tonnes of antibiotics are used each year, 40 per cent of which is for humans,
Table 2.1 Incidence of microbial infection in farm animals, USProportion of individuals with infectious bacteria (%)
Broiler chickens Turkeys Pigs Cattle
Clostridium 43 29 10 8
Campylobacter 88 90 32 1
Salmonella 29 19 8 3
Staphylococcus 65 65 16 8