Dundee, IL - On March 19, 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of PREEMPT(TM) to reduce the threat of Salmonella in chickens. PREEMPT is the first product of its kind to receive the FDA approval for sale to the American poultry industry. It's produced by MS BioScience, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Dundee, Illinois, at a newly expanded multimillion dollar fermentation facility in Madison, Wisconsin.
PREEMPT is an all-natural product ... a blend of 29 beneficial microbes found in the gastrointestinal tract of mature, healthy chickens. The formula is sprayed onto chicks right after they hatch. How does PREEMPT work? In the gut, these beneficial microbes establish a healthy ecosystem which naturally inhibits the growth of all types of Salmonella bacteria. Scientists call this process "competitive exclusion."
"What we're doing essentially is replacing the mother hen," says Dr. John DeLoach, the primary developer of PREEMPT and General Manager of MS BioScience. "Before the advent of large, modern poultry farms, hens would pass the good microbes...and disease resistance ... onto their chicks." Now, in the absence of mother hens, science is filling the breach.
The timing for products like PREEMPT seems good. The global consumption of chicken keeps rising as people seek healthier diets. In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that cases of food poisoning caused by Salmonella have doubled since 1975. While down on the farm, poultry producers share an increasing concern over the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.
Until now, producers have relied primarily on antibiotics to curb pathogenic infections in poultry. Not only are these antibiotics expensive, but their overuse could lead to the emergence of new bacterial "super strains" which are highly resistant to conventional medications. PREEMPT is among the first of a new generation of probiotic products which enhance an animal's own natural defenses against infection.
The development of PREEMPT is itself remarkable, illustrating just how much can be accomplished when government and industry join forces. When Dr. DeLoach and his colleagues started research that led to development of the product in 1986, he was employed by the Agriculture Research Service, chief research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MS BioScience subsequently acquired the exclusive rights to four USDA patents and hired Dr. DeLoach to manage commercialization of the technology.
Thanks in part to the FDA's new "fast track" review process, PREEMPT was approved for sale to the U.S. poultry industry in three short years, following successful clinical trials at several academic and commercial poultry facilities. Dr. DeLoach asserts that "PREEMPT is a prime example of how the public and private sector is working together to keep a safe industry even safer."
While PREEMPT is a powerful tool in the fight against Salmonella, it isn't a "magic bullet." Proper sanitation must be observed at a number of critical points, from the poultry farm to the processing plant to the consumer. But for the poultry industry, it represents a significant first step in their continuing campaign to eliminate contamination in chicken.
Beyond treating chickens, the implications for products like PREEMPT are exciting. This patented technology can be used to create a new class of microbial medicines for poultry, cattle, swine, dogs, cats ... and ultimately, human beings. Future products could be biologically designed to treat severe diarrhea, to alleviate stomach upset, to mitigate the side-effects of chemo and radiation therapy ... in short, to correct any condition which threatens the body's beneficial microbes.
For now, however, PREEMPT promises to help keep the world's 24 billion chickens significantly more Salmonella-free.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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