Antibiotics

A startling 80% of all antibiotics sold in the United States are used for farm animals. While some of that 80% is used to treat animal illnesses, the majority (90%) is administered through the animals water or feed to assist the animal’s growth and subsequent weight gain and to also preventively help the livestock survive the harsh farm and living conditions.

In 2010, farm animals ingested 29.1 million pounds of antibiotics, a 400,000-pound increase from 2009. According to IARC reports, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that many of the antibiotics farmers use on food animals are risky for human health. These documents show that from 2001 to 2010, FDA scientists studied 30 different antibiotics (approved decades ago), and called 18 of the drugs “high risk” for human health, because they could expose humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply. However, the FDA has ignored these findings, and continues to allow the use of these drugs in animal feed.

Steroid hormones

These are used for growth in food-producing animals. More specifically, since the 1950s, FDA also has approved a number of steroid hormone drugs for use in beef cattle and sheep, including natural estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and their synthetic versions. These drugs increase the animals growth rate and the efficiency by which they convert the feed they eat into meat but can be a “high risk” for human health.

Arsenic based drugs

These drugs are used in Poultry and Pig Feeds. Recent studies showed levels of arsenic in chicken that exceeded amounts that occur naturally. Arsenic has been used in several drugs (i.e. nitarsone) which is added to the food of chickens, turkeys and pigs in order to prevent diseases (such as blackhead or histomoniasis), increase feed efficiency and promote growth. Since arsenic is a high risk chemical compound, FDA is studying its effects on humans.