Current Comment: Preparing for the post-AGP era
On December 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a plan to limit the use of certain antimicrobials in food animals. The drugs at issue are those considered medically important in humans, including tetracyclines, penicillins and macrolides. The FDA's plan asks drug makers to voluntarily change the labels on their medically important antimicrobials to remove growth promotion as an indication. By law, drugs administered in animal feed cannot be used in a way inconsistent with their labeling, so this would effectively prohibit usage of antimicrobials as growth promoters. The FDA has also asked drug companies to revoke the targeted antimicrobials' over-the-counter status, so that a veterinarian's prescription would be required to use these medications for the purpose of disease prevention or treatment.
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