Judge Orders FDA To Remove Antibiotics from Animal Feed
A federal judge ruled this week that The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must either make plans to withdraw approval for the use of most antibiotics in animal feed or withdraw approval for non-therapeutic use of those antibiotics, reports Reuters.
The 22 March ruling by US Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz comes after mounting concerns about antibiotic resistance and emerging so-called "superbugs" being seen as a threat to human health.
Katz noted FDA had recently abandoned a process started in 1977 to eradicate the use of antibiotics, and ordered them to follow through on that process. FDA responded to Katz by saying the noted process was outdated, and it intends to pursue other processes to achieve the same end.
FDA has made recent regulations in the area. On 4 January, it prohibited the off-label use of the antibiotic cephalosporin in cattle, swine, chickens or turkeys for most purposes, and on 25 January proposed new regulations on unapproved animal drug residues in imported food products.
FDA did not have a response to the ruling at the time the Reuters piece went to press.
Read more:
Reuters - FDA must act to remove antibiotics from animal feed: judge
Regulatory Focus - FDA Releases Order to Protect Antimicrobial Drug From Use in Food Animals
Regulatory Focus - FDA Proposes New Regulations for Unapproved Animal Drug Residues in Imported Food