NEW YORK, N.Y. - The use of
antibiotics as animal feed ad
ditives has not been shown to be a
threat to human health. Con
sumers would pay substantially
more for meat and poultry if the
4-H beef leadership award
FARM SHOW - Conrad Grove
of RD 1, Downingtown, has been
named the winner of the J. Ira
Coble Memorial Award for out
standing service as a Penn
sylvania 4-H beef club leader.
Grove received a plaque during
ceremonies Thursday at the 68th
Farm Show. The award is in
memory of Coble, who served 43
years as a Dauphin County 4-H
beef club leader.
The award winner started his 4-
H service in 1960 when he was
elected by the 4-H members as
leader of the Kimberton 4-H Beef
Club. As leader, he conducted
meetings, arranged for speakers,
and organized shows. He holds
sessions on his farm with emphasis
on judging, branding and properly
weighing animals.
Farm manager of Devereux
Soleil Farm, Grove was respon
sible for establishing the Chester
County 4-H average daily gain and
teed efficiency award in 1981. He
currently is helping set up a county
4-H carcass show to measure feed
efficiency, carcass grade and yield
data.
The award winner also helped
establish the Devereux Foundation
4-H Fund to sponsor a 4-H beef club
Christmas banquet, summer beef
show, judging clinics and leader
training.
A native of Virginia, Grove
showed steers for ten years and
won numerous awards at the state
fair in Richmond.
Award Winning
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Proposed bon on antibiotics in livestock
use of antibiotics in livestock and
poultry feeds were prohibited. So
states a new report from the
American Council on Science and
Health (ACSH), an independent
national scientific organization.
Chester County man wins
Conrad Grove, left, of
Coble Memorial Award
Coble.
feed unnecessary, says ACSH
R 1
for
Downingtown, receives the J. Ira
4-H beef leadership from David
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Low doses of antibiotics have
been added routinely to livestock
and poultry feeds for more than 30
years, because the drugs promote
the animals’ growth and permit
them to be brought to market more
economically.
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This practice has been
questioned because it could in
crease the prevalence of an
tiobiotic-resistant bacteria which
might cause human diseases that
would be difficult to treat.
The Food and Drug Ad
ministration has proposed banning
most uses of penicillin and
tetracycline in animal feeds, but
Congress has ordered FDA to
postpone action on this issue until
more scientific evidence is
available.
“During the more than 30 years
in which antibiotics have been used
as animal feed additives, no
human health problems at
tributable to this practice have
been reported. There have been no
known outbreaks of unbeatable
bacterial disease as a result of the
feeding of low doses of antibiotics
to livestock, not even among
farmers, slaughterhouse workers,
or other groups of people who come
into contact with farm animals
daily,” said Dr. Richard A.
Greenberg, Associate Director of
ACSH.
“The feeding of antibiotics to
farm animals does pose a
theoretical health risk,” Dr.
Greenberg continued. “For
tunately, though, we don’t have to
rely on theory alone to determine
whether this risk is a significant
one. We also have a large body of
evidence from practical ex
perience.
“The widespread use of low
doses of antiobiotics in livestock
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feed during the past three decades
has provided us with a ‘natural
experiment’ on an enormous scale.
The thirty year record of safety
that has come out of this ‘ex
periment’ is strong evidence in
favor of permitting the addition of
antibiotics to livestock feeds to
continue.”
Consumers might have to absorb
economic losses as high as $3.5
billion per-year if the addition of
penicillin and tetracycline to
animal feeds were discontinued,
according to studies cited in the
ACSH report.
ACSH recommends that the
health impact of the use of an
tibiotics in animal agriculture
should continue to be assessed
periodically, to see if conditions
have changed in any way that
might lead to a significant hazard
in the future.
The American Council on
Science and Health is an in
dependent, nonprofit consumer
education organization promoting
scientifically balanced evaluations
of food, chemicals, the en
vironment, and health. ACSH has
offices in New York, New Jersey,
and Washington, DC.
A single complimentary copy of
the ACSH report ANTIBIOTICS IN
ANIMAL FEEDS: A THREAT TO
HUMAN HEALTH? can be ob
tained by sending a self-addressed,
stamped (37 cents postage),
business-size (#10) envelope to
ACSH, 47 Maple St., Summit, NJ
07901.
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