Antibiotics in your food: how medicine is used by animal breeders

A sick cow could die overnight if it is not treated with antibiotics. But how lax are breeders with the medicine, considering that its misuse could pass on resistant bacteria to the person who ends up drinking its milk? Farmers say they cannot abuse antibiotics even if they wanted to, and tests reveal high compliance.   There are concerns, however. We spoke to stakeholders, from farmers to doctors, to better understand the situation. The farmer  Consuming animal products containing antibiotic residues is just as bad astaking a dose of antibiotics, medics warn, but dairy farmer Frankie Fenech says breeders are subject to strict monitoring. Misuse of antibiotics could mean the end of an animal breeder’s livelihood as it could mean losing EU funds and other grants that are often a lifeline for the farmer, according to Frankie Fenech. The former president of the Koperattiva Produtturi tal-Ħalib explained that dairy farmers were required to keep prescribed painkillers and antibiotics on their farm as part of their welfare regime. In the worst case scenario, if a cow took a turn for the worse during the night in the weekend and it was not treated immediately because of a lack of...