California, known for its more advanced initiative towards the protection of public health and the environment, has recently released one of the strictest U.S. government standards with regards to the use of antibiotics in producing livestock. The bill was signed by California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday since use of these antibiotics contributes to the growing numbers of human infections stemming from "superbugs" that have become immune to antibiotics, as previously reported by HNGN.
Based on reports of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, these life-threatening kinds of bacteria infect an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. each year and can kill 3,000 out of those infected, according to The Guardian.
"This puts California at the forefront of U.S. efforts to address the overuse of antibiotics in meat production," senior attorney Avinash Kar of the NRDC said, according to Reuters.
These antibiotics are readily available can be bought even without a prescription. Some of these are used to treat animal diseases, prevent sickness and help boost growth. All these kinds of uses are legal, but concern has grown among consumer supporters, health experts, and even investors since the use antibiotics has started affecting humans with bacteria-related illnesses.
"The science is clear that the overuse of antibiotics in livestock has contributed to the spread of antibiotic resistance and the undermining of decades of lifesaving advances in medicine," Governor Brown said, Vox reported,
The California bill will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018. Included in the bill is having the necessary prescriptions before purchasing antibiotics and using those for the livestock. Another part of the bill says that the producers of livestock are not allowed to use growth enhancers and antibiotics for unclear prevention purposes.
