New oversight on food animal antimicrobial use

There's good news for those who want to know where food comes from because they are concerned about potential loss of efficacy of antimicrobials. According to the Animal Science Weekly (Texas A&M University, May 2011), a new committee has been created by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) that will advise the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the issue of veterinarians’ involvement in antimicrobial use for food animals. The five-member Steering Committee for FDA Policy on Veterinary Oversight of Antimicrobials has been charged with the task of working with the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine to find practical ways of increasing veterinary oversight when antimicrobials are used. “Antimicrobial resistance – and the debate on their judicious use – is an important issue facing veterinary medicine today,” said John Brooks, chair of the AVMA’s executive board, “this committee was assembled to help the FDA examine both the need for increased veterinary oversight in order to minimize any potential increase in human antibiotic resistance while still ensuring that these important medicines continue to remain available to veterinarians when needed.”

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