The Pros And Cons Of The FDA

The Food and Drug Administration, also known as the FDA or USFDA, is responsible for protecting and advocating public health. They are the official government agency that ensures our drug supply is safe and effective. This is achieved through the regulation and supervision of food safety, dietary supplements, veterinary products, cosmetics, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, prescription and pharmaceutical drugs that can be purchased over- the- counter.

Although the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) was established by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect consumers, a number of unintended consequences have arisen that negatively impact producers. These include increased costs of feed, negative impacts of small and rural producers, limitations to meeting new demands and the voluntary nature of the VFD. This letter explores the VFD and identifies challenges with its current implementation that impact our rural and remote producers.

coli and Salmonella” (Veldman). This statement allows the reader to see the negative impact of antibiotics used in livestock. Gay Miller elaborates on the subject when speaking with Veldman, saying, “Of course, it raises concerns about resistance issues… but from my perspective the most important thing to reflect on with regard to antibiotic resistance is from a benefit/cost perspective.” Veldman continues to explain that the National Cattleman’s Beef Association Website also says, “…science has not found a link between the use of antibiotics in food animals and development of resistant bacteria that might compromise the efficacy of related antibiotics in human medicine.” These two statements by Veldman and Miller tell the reader that even though there is a chance that certain antibiotics used in livestock could be harmful to consumers, there is no scientific evidence to support

The FDA also looks at several products that have chemical implications to them, such as drugs. It looks at drug manufacturing standards, as well as the labels of each drug (both over-the-counter and prescription drugs) and must give its approval on new drugs before they can be sold to the public. The FDA also looks at cosmetics. It must ensure that, like food articles, each product is properly labeled as to what comprises each item. Biological products, such as the nation’s blood supply, are also regulated by the FDA. It does research to improve upon the testing methods of blood, to ensure that the supply in hazard free. It also is in charge of handing out licenses to product and manufacturing establishments.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) they are in operation to help protect public health, primarily by ensuring that companies prove the safety and efficacy of drugs/devices, manufacture them properly, and market them appropriately. Almost every investor has probably heard stories of the traveling medicine shows of the 1800s and early 1900s where frauds sold various "patent medicines" that, did not cure anything and at worst were actually quite harmful. (Stephen D. Simpson, 2014)

As we may all know, money talks. Since big food corporations take note of when their sales have plummeted, consumers hold the power to ask for things that they would like to see change. One thing to look for as an alternative to antibiotic raised meat, is to look for USDA organic products that are labeled under “No Antibiotics Administered”. That way, big corporations are forced to fit in with the trend of antibiotic free meat. In addition, writing to big corporations and demanding answers is also a strong action that can be taken by many. Here at UCR for example, we have an environmental group called CALPIRG that dedicates their days to protesting and writing to big fast food companies. I am proud to say that they have reached out to subway successfully and starting next month, Subway will begin to sell antibiotic free chicken. The new fast food restaurant that CALPIRG is targeting is In N Out and I believe they will continue to make these corporations change big time. Furthermore, consumers can also contact the institutes that were intended to fight against big food corporations and set up regulations on the abuse of antibiotics along with other issues. A more extreme measure may also be for consumers to change their eating habits all together and become vegan or vegetarian. Although the last suggestion may seem

Because of the requirement of the VFD documentation that provides details on the number of and species of the animals, the unnecessary use of antimicrobials is subject to decline. The veterinarian oversight also works to eliminate the unnecessary use of antibiotics by prohibiting the utilization of the drugs for production purposes. The removal of production claims from drug labels will serve to reduce the desire of consumers to purchase the product for non-therapeutic uses. Altogether, these factors combine to antagonize the role that agricultural products play in the antibiotic-resistance crisis.

Do you want the animals you eat feed antibiotics and the food is not fresh or do you want food that is fresh and the animals are feed right?Ranchers and farmers have been feeding antibiotics to the animals we eat. Ever since they discovered decades ago and has been found as a health risk to humans but there is a food chain that can help America. The local sustainable food chain is the best food source to feed America.

The Federal Agency I am looking up is the FDA which stands for Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The Food and Drug Administration is the oldest comprehensive consumer protection agency in the U. S. federal government. The Department of Agriculture was founded by Theodore Roosevelt & Harvey Washington Wiley, in 1862. The FDA was not known by its present name until 1930. The FDA's organization consists of the Office of the Commissioner and monitors four core functions of the agency which is: Medical Products and Tobacco, Foods, Global Regulatory Operations and Policy, and Operations. The federal public health protection was vigorously advocated by Harvey Washington Wiley,

When the law changes imposing regulations such as minimum wage laws, quotas on production, work safety regulations, or limiting the use of certain inputs, companies must change their production process to fit these regulations. In 2013 the FDA “...asked producers of veterinary antibiotics to revise labels to make it effectively illegal for farmers and ranchers to administer drugs for the purpose of promoting growth” (Kesmodel et al, 1). Although this did not completely eliminate the use of antibiotics for growth purposes, it did force many ranchers to re-engineer their business processes. One of the main ways that farmers have changed the way they raise livestock is through the use of different methods to protect their livestock from disease such as using vaccines and probiotics to help protect animals (Kesmodel et al,

Have you ever wondered what goes into the beef we eat? Our beef is given antibiotics in their feed and water to help them grow bigger faster. The antibiotics in our cows can potentially cause us to get a food-borne illness from the beef we eat in any form. There are many issues dealing with the topic, should we or should we not have antibiotics administered to our beef. Many people think it is a good idea to have antibiotics in our beef to help the beef industry and help us not get sick from eating beef. I think we should not give our beef antibiotics for a very good reason. The reason is cows are given antibiotics unnecessary to their health. There have been many disagreements among different government, federal, national medicine,

Something that I have seen really prevalent throughout the video and a lot of articles I read is that the meat industries are always trying to undermine the problem. The industries only care about mass producing in mass quantities without seeing all the adverse consequences their actions could cause. For instance, instead of being lenient to having research in their farms most of them neglect such studies to take place. Which leads me to believe that they are trying to hide their over use of antibiotics on animals. The FDA by giving them the opportunity to voluntarily report their usage is doing a huge mistake because no one is going to report the things they are doing wrong. As stated in the Compassion in World Farming, “for some major human bacterial infections, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, farm animals are the most important source of antimicrobial resistance” (4). Although the research is not conclusive for all antibiotic resistant bacteria, I feel that there is some evidence that shows a strong enough link between agricultural antibiotic use and human antibiotic resistant infections to demand change in farming practices. Unfortunately, we will start realizing this when there is major outbreak the affects a large percent of the population and sadly it would be to late to do something about it by

The health of the nation is being compromised by an unlikely source, animals. Due to the rampant unnecessary use of antibiotics in animal feed, we are setting up a hospitable environment for superbugs to grow and develop. The emergence of the superbugs can lead to deadly consequences for any person unlucky enough to be exposed to them and develop and infection. Not many people know about the threat that is lurking in the grocery store and in the fridge, but this danger is closer to our families than anyone should be comfortable with. Without a shift toward using antibiotics more responsibly by the farming and ranching community, it is certain that more organisms will develop a resistance to

The CDC states that 23,000 people die each year because of medicated meat products. Would you really know the difference between medicated and not medicated meat? Could you taste it? Could you see? This is the questions the Veterinary Feed Directive or (VFD) has been trying to solve. Throughout this speech, I will inform you about the new act placed on today's producers.

Regulations of antimicrobial or antibiotics drugs are now demanded through this new bill propose by Jerry Hill through a Veterinarian prescription. As a result there has been easier access to antimicrobial drugs, due to the fact that they cost low, are given the fact that they are safe to use, and even more available from pharmacy to general stores. Antimicrobial drugs are meant to help in human and animal health. “Antimicrobial resistance has the power to influence microbes to grow in the form of a chemical (drug) that would normally kill them or limit their chance