Increased antibiotic use in meat could create drug-resistant 'super bugs'

McDonald's has pledged to stop treating chicken with human antibiotics, but antibiotic use in meats is still on the rise. Reuters reports that across the globe, antibiotic use in meats could increase by two-thirds by 2030 — and that will have serious health consequences for humans.

A new study by researchers at Princeton, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warns that developing countries using antibiotics in meat could create drug-resistant "super bugs" that affect the entire planet.

The researchers note that in China, Brazil, India, and Russia, antibiotic use in animals could double between 2010 and 2030. China's livestock alone could soon be responsible for almost a third of the world's antibiotics.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Reuters notes that the use of antibiotics in meat "is pushing us closer to a time when common infections could become a death sentence, because they will no longer respond to drugs." The researchers expressed specific concern over E. coli and salmonella, which have already started to resist antibiotics.