Antibiotics in Animals

• Antibiotics are naturally-occurring, semi-synthetic and synthetic compounds with

antimicrobial activity that can be administered orally, parenterally or topically and are
used in human and veterinary medicine to treat and prevent disease, and for growth
promotion in food animals.
• Huge quantities of antibiotics are used annually in livestock farming operations
throughout the world, but the eventual fate of their residues and their potential
damage to environmental health generally remains unknown
• Moreover, antibiotics are also used to improve performance in growth and feed
efficiency, to synchronize or control the reproductive cycle and breeding performance
also often lead to harmful residual effects. Nonetheless, their misuse has led to an
increase in diseases in humans and domestic animals worldwide.
• The use of antibiotics in animals can have direct and indirect effects on human health.
The direct effects are those that can be causally linked to contact with antibiotic-
resistant bacteria from food animals, and indirect effects are those that result from
contact with resistant organisms that have been spread to various components of the
ecosystem (e.g., water and soil) as a result of antibiotic use in food animals.
• The concern over antibiotic residues in food of animal origin occurs in two situations;
one which produces potential threat to direct toxicity in human, second is whether the
low levels of antibiotic exposure would result in alteration of microflora, cause disease
and the possible development of resistant strains which cause failure of antibiotic
therapy.
The use of antibiotics in food animals
 Antibiotics as growth promoters
• The mechanism of action of antibiotics as growth promoters is related to
interactions between the antibiotics and the gut microbiota.

• The low doses of antibiotics are sometimes added to cattle, poultry and swine feed
to increase their body size. Example includes Sulphonamides which is used as
growth promoter in poultry.
 Antibiotics as therapy, and prophylaxis

• The use of antibiotics in specific conditions is justified because the role of microbial agents is
mainly to kill or destroy the rapidly invading cells.

• These invading microorganisms sometimes damage the cells of the animals and reduce their
growth performance.

• These antibiotics may either be administered to prevent disease or during an infection.

Antibiotic residues

• Antibiotic residues are metabolites found in trace amounts in any edible portion of the animal product after
the administration of the antibiotics.

• The antibiotic residues in food animal in excess of the acceptable maximum residue limit may contribute to
the development of antibiotic resistances in animals or humans.
 Health impacts
• Antibiotics used in food animals can cause health hazards due to their secretion in edible animal tissues in trace
amounts.

• Some drugs have the potential to produce toxic reactions in consumers directly while some other is able to
produce allergic or hypersensitivity reactions

• For example, b-lactam antibiotics can cause cutaneous eruptions, dermatitis, gastro-intestinal symptoms
and anaphylaxis at very low doses. Such drugs include the penicillin and cephalosporin groups of antibiotics.

• These direct effects may include the induction of resistance in normal flora of the human gastrointestinal tract
due to the consumption of antibiotic-containing meat products causing an outbreak of resistant diarrheal disease.
Moreover, increased risk of resistant colonization or infection in humans due to their exposure to farm animals
treated with antibiotics.

• The Indirect and long term hazards include microbiological effects, carcinogenicity, reproductive effects
and teratogenicity. Microbiological effects are one of the major health hazards in human beings. The Resistant
bacteria from animal waste used as fertilizer may cause contamination of water supply and alterations in human
flora
The risk factors that contribute to foodborne
illness
These are the top five risk factors contributing to foodborne illness:

 Food from unsafe sources

 Inadequate cooking

 Improper hot/cold holding temperatures

 Contaminated equipment

 Poor personal hygiene

• Contributing factors are preventable causes of outbreaks.

• Contributing factors are the practices and factors that lead to outbreaks. In an
outbreak, contributing factors are the “how” and root causes are the “why.”

 Identifying contributing factors in foodborne illness outbreaks can help stop them and
prevent them in the future.
Contributing factors fall into 3 types.

• Contamination:
• Pathogens and other hazards get into food. Example, a sick food worker handles food
with their bare hands.

• Proliferation

• Pathogens already in food grow. Example, food held at the wrong temperature for a
long time can allow harmful bacteria to grow

• Survival

• Pathogens survive a process to kill or reduce them. Example, food is not cooked long
enough or to a hot enough temperature.
The most common contributing factors
for outbreaks in restaurants come from
sick food workers and food preparation
practices.

Sick food workers can contaminate ready-to-eat food when they come into work while
experiencing symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea. Food workers who are infectious can
contaminate food:
 with bare hands
 while wearing gloves
 in other ways, such as letting food touch a contaminated cutting board or utensil
Improper food preparation practices are another common contributing factor for restaurant
outbreaks. Not cooking food to a hot enough temperature and other improper food
preparation practices can lead to pathogens growing.
 Major foodborne illnesses and causes

• Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or
chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food.
• Chemical contamination can lead to acute poisoning or long-term diseases, such as cancer. Many foodborne
diseases may lead to long-lasting disability and death. Some examples of food hazards are.
Bacteria
 Salmonella, Campylobacter and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli are some of the most common foodborne pathogens that
affect millions of people annually, sometimes with severe and fatal outcomes. Symptoms can be fever, headache, nausea,
vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
 Foods involved in outbreaks of salmonellosis include eggs, poultry and other products of animal origin. Foodborne cases
with Campylobacter are mainly caused by raw milk, raw or undercooked poultry and drinking water.
 Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli is associated with unpasteurized milk, undercooked meat and contaminated fresh fruits and
vegetables.
 Listeria infections can lead to miscarriage in pregnant women or death of newborn babies. Although disease occurrence is
relatively low, Listeria’s severe and sometimes fatal health consequences, particularly among infants, children and the elderly,
count them among the most serious foodborne infections. Listeria is found in unpasteurised dairy products and various ready-to-
eat foods and can grow at refrigeration temperatures.
 Vibrio cholerae can infect people through contaminated water or food. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, vomiting and
profuse watery diarrhoea, which quickly lead to severe dehydration and possibly death. Rice, vegetables, millet gruel and various
types of seafood have been implicated in cholera outbreaks.
• Antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, are essential to treat infections caused by bacteria, including foodborne pathogens. However,
their overuse and misuse in veterinary and human medicine has been linked to the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria,
• Viruses

• Some viruses can be transmitted by food consumption. Norovirus is a common cause of foodborne
infections that is characterized by nausea, explosive vomiting, watery diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

• Hepatitis A virus can also be transmitted by food and can cause long-lasting liver disease and spreads
typically through raw or undercooked seafood or contaminated raw produce.

• Parasites

• Some parasites, such as fish-borne trematodes, are only transmitted through food. Others, for example
tapeworms like Echinococcus spp, or Taenia spp, may infect people through food or direct contact with
animals.

• Other parasites, such as Ascaris, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica or Giardia, enter the food chain
via water or soil and can contaminate fresh produce.

• Prions

• Prions, infectious agents composed of protein, are unique in that they are associated with specific forms of
neurodegenerative disease. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or so-called mad cow disease) is a
prion disease in cattle, associated with the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.
Consuming meat products containing specified risk material, such as brain tissue, is the most likely route of
transmission of the prion agent to humans.
• Chemicals

• Of most concern for health are naturally occurring toxins and environmental pollutants.

 Naturally occurring toxins include mycotoxins, marine biotoxins, cyanogenic glycosides and toxins occurring in poisonous
mushrooms. Staple foods like corn or cereals can contain high levels of mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin and ochratoxin, produced by
mould on grain. A long-term exposure can affect the immune system and normal development, or cause cancer.

 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are compounds that accumulate in the environment and human body. Known examples are
dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are unwanted by-products of industrial processes and waste incineration. They
are found worldwide in the environment and accumulate in animal food chains. Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive
and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.

 Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury cause neurological and kidney damage. Contamination by heavy metal in food
occurs mainly through pollution of water and soil.

 Other chemical hazards in food can include radioactive nucleotides that can be discharged into the environment from industries
and from civil or military nuclear operations, food allergens, residues of drugs and other contaminants incorporated in the food during
the process.
FOOD PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS
• The role of food production in shaping a nation's economy is tremendous. It not only
provides stable employment opportunities but also fuels local economies.

• It contributes to making food affordable and meets consumer demand.

• Food production, is all about preparing food, in which raw materials are converted into ready-made
food products for human use either in the home or in the food processing industries.

• scientific approaches. Food production has many sections and it starts with basic things like
cleaning, packing, segregating, sorting, preparing, adding ingredients in correct proportions,
presenting, etc.
• Let us explore food production notes to learn how the food is produced and what are the methods
involved in the production of food.
 How is Food Produced?
• There are large numbers of plant and animal products, which are used for our well-being. They provide us
with food, which comes from both plants and animals.
• These include grains, pulses, spices, honey, nuts, cereals, milk, vegetables, fruits, egg, meat, chicken, etc. The
existence of our life is completely depended on plants and animals. Altogether, plant and animal species
provide 90% of global energy.
• Types of Food Production
• Food production is further classified into different types including, cultivation, selection, crop
management, harvesting, crop production, preserving, baking, pasteurizing, pudding, carving,
butchering, fermenting, pickling, drink and candy making, restaurants, etc.
 Methods of Food Production

 Chopping or slicing of vegetables.

 Curing food.
 Grinding and marinating.
 Emulsification.
 Food fermentation.
 Fermenting beer at brewing industries.
 Boiling, broiling, frying, grilling, steaming and mixing.
 Pasteurization.
 Fruit juice processing.
 Removing the outer layers either by peeling and skinning.
 Gasification of soft drinks.
 Preserving and packaging of food products by vacuum packs.
Food Economics Division (FED)
FED conducts economic research and analysis on policy-relevant issues related to the food sector (food
safety, food prices, and markets);
Consumer behaviour related to food choices (food consumption, diet quality, and nutrition); and food and
nutrition assistance programs (SNAP, WIC, National School Lunch Program).
FED also provides data and statistics on food prices, food expenditures, and the food supply chain.

Food Prices and Markets

FED researchers monitor and estimate indicators of individual, household, and market-level food
consumption, prices, and expenditures; food marketing costs; and farm-to-retail price spreads.
Research also focuses on food processing and distribution as well as trends and developments in food
wholesale and retail markets.
Topics include the ability of the sector to meet changing consumer demands, the effect of government
interventions to facilitate that response, and the effect of government interventions and changes in the
sector on consumer and producer welfare.
Food Safety
FED researchers analyze food safety issues, including consumer benefits from risk reduction, economic impacts of
foodborne disease, production and other economic tradeoffs in reducing hazards, impacts of proposed regulations
and international harmonization, and consumer responses to food safety events.

Food Security and Food Assistance

FED researchers assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the Department’s food and nutrition assistance
programs, including SNAP, WIC, and the National School Lunch Program. FED research is particularly focused on
household food security, determinants of program participation, outcomes of program participation, and the linkages
with the agricultural sector and general economy.

Consumer Behaviour, Food Consumption, and Nutrition

FED researchers examine the demographic, social, and economic determinants of food and nutrient consumption;
interrelationships between food and nonfood consumption; estimates of food availability and food loss; consumer
valuation of quality, safety, and nutrition characteristics; and the role of information in determining food choices and
associated health outcomes.