Help stop this escalating human & animal welfare disaster.

Imagine a world where a common infection could once-again kill? Or where routine treatments like caesarean births, heart bypass surgery and hip replacements are considered too dangerous to perform because there are no drugs able to treat infections? Alarmingly, scientists and health professionals warn this is fast becoming a reality.

In fact, it’s estimated that 1.3 million people are dying globally each year from antibiotic-resistant bacterial (AMR) infections. Put simply, some of the antibiotics which are critical in modern medicine, are no longer working, and the list of ineffective drugs is growing.

The World Health Organisation warns that antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to public health globally. And that a growing list of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, gonorrhoea, and foodborne diseases – are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

So, how did this happen? Put simply, the world has been flooded with antibiotics usage and now – more and more –  bacteria are mutating and becoming immune to them. While some emphasis on accountability has rightly been placed on the over-prescription and use of antibiotics for humans, the other main culprit – animal agriculture – has escaped scrutiny. 

In Australia, 60% of antibiotics are used in farming animals.^[1]

And not only to treat individual sick animals but the risk of disease in industrial farming means antibiotics may be added to the food and water supply. So, entire sheds of animals may be dosed with antibiotics — whether they are sick or not. This is known in the industry as “prophylactic’ use.

And it’s a practice that puts everyone at risk, not just people who choose to eat meat, as these drug-resistant bacteria mutate and can spread throughout our society.

Investigation discovers ‘superbugs’  in meat on Australian supermarket shelves

The suffering of animals in Australian factory farms is irrefutable. And now, thanks to a two-year investigation commissioned by Animals Australia, so too is the human health risk of keeping animals in crowded and unhygienic conditions.

The scientific research study conducted by the University of Canberra has revealed the presence of multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria in chicken and pig meat sold in Australian supermarkets. Samples were obtained from all four major supermarket chains (Aldi, IGA, Coles, Woolworths).

Among the study’s key findings:

• 33 types of bacterial species that cause infection in humans were found in the meat samples.
• All the bacterial species showed resistance to at least one class of antibiotics that are classified as critically or highly important by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• 12% of the bacteria species found had multi-drug resistance to antibiotics used in human medicine (‘superbugs’).
• The most alarming discovery was bacteria harbouring three different genes that were resistant to the antibiotic Colistin, a life-saving drug of last resort for the most severe infections that have proven to be multi-drug resistant in hospital patients.
• 100% of the E. coli bacterial isolates from chicken and pork samples were predicted to be pathogenic (infectious) to humans. Of the Campylobacter strains isolated, 86% were predicted to be human pathogens.

The results of this study confirm that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are being produced as an inherent by-product of factory farming in Australia and are making their way – largely undetected – into the food chain.

Australian regulators: failing people and animals

Australia is lagging woefully behind other developed nations when it comes to the regulation and monitoring of antibiotic use in agriculture. There is no surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance in farmed animals at the national level and no reporting requirements on industry use of antibiotics.

In contrast, the EU has banned the prophylactic dosing of animals, the UK is acting on it and the US has introduced labelling laws across the retail sector. Despite this global effort against antimicrobial resistance, Australia’s meat industry has done little more than “plan to make plans” for over two decades.

With governments and industries failing to prioritise this urgent issue, retailers are in a powerful position to drive change. Call on Coles and Woolworths to urgently ban the routine use of antibiotics in their supply chains and demand a higher standard of animal care for animals.

Antibiotic resistance is a threat to everyone

Resistant bacteria can be transmitted from animals to humans via direct contact; through the food chain via meat preparation and consumption; and through the environment. Fruits and vegetables can even become contaminated through contact with soil, water or fertiliser that contains infected animal faeces.

This makes superbugs a real threat to all of us.

As purchasing points for contaminated products, retailers have an ethical responsibility to be part of the solution. Use the form below to send an urgent message to Coles and Woolworths calling on them to ban the routine use of antibiotics in their supply chains and set better standards for the treatment of animals.

What more can I do?

This frightening situation reinforces that wherever our relationship with animals is out of balance, there is always a human and environmental impact.

The commodification of animals has led to industrial farming. Industrial farming has led to the use of antibiotics. And the routine use of antibiotics is driving one of greatest risks to human health globally.

That animals suffer in our food system is undeniable. But it has never been clearer that if we want to safeguard human health into the future then we need to end the industrial farming of animals.

With consumer demand for animal products underpinning these cruel and unhealthy systems, we are each in a unique position to inspire change – through the food we choose to eat. Every time you choose a plant-based meal over an animal-based one you are helping create a new demand – for a food system that is healthier, kinder to animals and that will nourish and sustain generations to come.

You’ll find tips and tasty recipes in our plant-based living guide.  

REFERENCES:

[1] Langham and Cheng 2019, Antibiotic use in animals and humans in Australia  https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/211_04/mja250258.pdf