Food Safety and Antibiotics for Healthy Farm Animals

Researchers in Arizona sampled meat and poultry sold at grocery stores in Flagstaff, Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale and Washington, DC. What they found has added fuel to the controversy over the use of antibiotics. Factory farmers use antibiotics not just to treat sick animals and prevent them from getting sick, but to make them grow bigger, faster. Last year, the FDA urged the industry to cut back because overuse may make dangerous bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Now antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found on meat and poultry sold in grocery stores. Does it come from the meat or from human contact? Is it a potential danger in every American kitchen? Is antibiotic effectiveness itself at risk?