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Banning Antibiotics at What Cost?
By Jane Messenger, Pork Magazine -There's no such thing as a free lunch. This holds true for many scenarios, including the controversy surrounding the use of feed-grade antibiotics in U.S. pork production. Sweden started the trend in 1985 and Denmark followed suit about a year and a half ago.
In an effort to determine the implications that a similar ban would have in the United States, experts from Iowa State University and the National Pork Board went to Sweden to study the country's pork industry. In reality, because of animal-welfare laws, the Swedish production system is more like the U.S. pork industry of the 1950's and early 1960's, but it's a starting point.
"One thing we found out is that the Swedes don't have before and after comparisons regarding antimicrobial use as it relates to resistance and human health implications," says Paul Sundberg, NPB assistant vice president, veterinary issues.
In spite of those obstacles, Sundberg admits that taking a look at Sweden helped U.S. researchers learn more about that country's production system. Sometime this year, the same group of researchers will visit Denmark, whose pork production systems have more similarities to those of the United States.
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