Guide to Wellness – July 2019

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Antibiotics in Beef

any antibiotics at all,” Hal-

loran says. “But at a bare min-

imum, medically important

antibiotics—drugs used to

treat people, such as amoxi-

cillin, erythromycin, and

tetracycline—should never

be used for routine disease

prevention in animals.”

At least 2 million Ameri-

cans contract an antibiotic-

resistant infection every

year, and 23,000 die, accord-

ing to the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention. CR’s

calculations of the CDC data

show that about 20 percent

of these infections are linked

to food. CR’s survey found

that 1 in 3 Americans either

experienced an antibiotic-

resistant infection or knew

someone who had.

The Issue With Burgers

Because of the high use of

antibiotics in the beef indus-

try, the 2018 Chain Reaction

report zeroed in on burger-

focused restaurants.

The companies were sent

a survey, and their re-

sponses—along with public

statements by the compa-

nies in the press or on their

websites—were used to cal-

culate the score.

At BurgerFi and Shake

Shack—which both received

A ratings for their beef sourc-

ing policies—100 percent

of the beef served is raised

without any antibiotics.

Of the remaining 23 burger

restaurants, 22 received F’s,

meaning they give no indica-

tion of having a policy that

limits antibiotics in the beef

they serve. The remaining

company, Wendy’s, got a D-

minus. It says it made a com-

mitment this year to source a

small percentage of beef

“While companies should

be lauded for shifting to

no-antibiotic chicken, chicken

only accounts for 6 percent

of the usage of medically im-

portant antibiotics in the meat

industry,” says Jean Halloran,

director of food policy initia-

tives at Consumer Reports.

“By contrast, the beef indus-

try uses 43 percent.”

The Trouble With

Antibiotic Use

Giving healthy animals an-

tibiotics to prevent diseases

they can contract when

being raised in crowded, un-

sanitary conditions is a

major contributor to antibi-

otic resistance, in which the

bacteria that can cause ill-

ness don’t respond to drugs.

Those resistant bacteria can

end up in the food supply

and can infect you, leading

to serious, potentially deadly

illness. Infection can come

from touching or eating un-

dercooked, contaminated

meat; eating plants grown

with fertilizer made from

animals treated with antibi-

otics; or by drinking tainted

groundwater. Studies even

suggest that resistant bac-

teria could be transmitted

through the air.

Almost 80 percent of Amer-

icans think meat producers

should stop giving antibiotics

to animals that aren’t sick,

according to a recent Con-

sumer Reports nationally

representative survey of 1,

U.S. adults. “Ideally, healthy

animals would not be given

12 GUIDE TO WELLNESS CR.ORG

Nearly 80

percent

of Americans

think meat

producers

should

stop giving

antibiotics to

animals that

aren’t sick,

according to a

CR survey.

from producers who mini-

mize (but don’t eliminate) the

use of medically important

antibiotics in their cattle.

Halloran says the beef in-

dustry faces particular hur-

dles that make it challenging

to reduce its antibiotic use.

“For the first part of their

lives, most cows are raised

on the range, and rarely

given antibiotics,” she says.

“Then when they’re moved

to a feedlot for ‘finishing,’

they’re packed together

tightly and given a rich diet

of corn and soy. Cattle’s

natural diet is grass; feeding