Supermarkets lack effective antibiotic policies, antibiotic group says
Restrictions on antibiotic use are not applied to some branded or imported products.
Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics has accused supermarkets of lacking effective antibiotic policies, as the threat of antimicrobial resistance continues to rise.
Following a focus on the topic at the High-Level Meeting at the UN general assembly in New York, the group has highlighted how some supermarket supply chains might not be complying with legislation.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when an overuse of antibiotics leads pathogens to develop a resistance to the antibiotics created to treat diseases, reducing the efficacy of these drugs. It has been described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘one of the top global public health and development threats’.
Throughout 2019, 1.27 million deaths around the world are estimated to be linked with antimicrobial resistance.
In May 2014, new legislation was introduced to restrict the use of antibiotics in farming. As part of the rules, farmers cannot use antibiotics to ‘compensate for poor hygiene, inadequate animal husbandry or poor farm management practices’.
The most recent report is showing some progress in reducing farm antibiotic use, with a 59 per cent reduction of farm antibiotic use since 2017.
There has also been an 81 per cent reduction in the use of critically important antibiotics since 2014.
However, although supermarkets do ask their suppliers to minimise use of antibiotics, they also allow suppliers to use intensive farming methods which increase levels of disease and antibiotic use. This includes fast-growing chickens, early weaning of piglets and routine tail docking of piglets.
Furthermore, existing antibiotic policies only apply to the supermarkets' own brand products, which usually originate in the UK. Branded products, which account for 48 per cent of grocery spending, and many imported animal products are not covered by the supermarkets' policies.
The antibiotic group reports that M&S follows antibiotic policy most closely, with their entire supply chain covered. Tesco and Waitrose are the next best performing supermarkets.
Iceland was the supermarket with the weakest policy, with no monitoring and no specific restrictions on critically important antibiotics. Ocado is yet to enforce a policy, although it says this will be introduced later this year.
The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is now calling on UK supermarkets to strengthen their antibiotic policies across all products and urges the government to ensure legislation on farm antibiotic use is fully implemented.
Cóilín Nunan, policy and science manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “Globally, it is estimated that about two thirds of all antibiotics are used in farm animals. Yet supermarkets are often not checking whether imported food they are selling has been produced with routine antibiotic use.
“This is unfair on UK farmers, who are held to higher standards. More importantly it is a threat to the health of consumers.”
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