The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued today the draft guidance for “The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs in Food-Producing Animals.” The draft guidance outlines FDA's current thinking on strategies to assure that antimicrobial drugs that are important for therapeutic use in humans are used judiciously in animal agriculture.
The document recommends phasing in measures that would limit medically important antimicrobial drugs to uses in food-producing animals that are considered necessary for assuring animal health and that include veterinary oversight or consultation.
The draft guidance summarizes a number of published reports on antimicrobial resistance and states it is the opinion of FDA that the overall weight of evidence available to date supports the conclusion that using medically important antimicrobial drugs for production or growth enhancing purposes (i.e., non-therapeutic or subtherapeutic uses) in food-producing animals is not in the interest of protecting and promoting the public health.
FDA is soliciting public feedback to this draft guidance for the next 60 days. To view the draft guidance, go to http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM216936.pdf.
Source: American Meat Institute