020260 Tyson Foods to End Use of Antibiotic

Springdale, AR - Tyson Foods Inc. said it's ending use of a certain antibiotic in its broiler chickens.

The Food and Drug Administration wants to ban the use of the antibiotic Baytril in poultry because of worries that the drug's use in chicken can lead to people being susceptible to illnesses.

Springdale-based Tyson said use of fluoroquinolones -- including Bayer Corp.'s Baytril -- was already minimal. Last year, the company said, fluoroquinolones were used in less than two-tenths of 1% of the 2.1 billion broiler chickens it produced for human consumption.

Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson said Wednesday that the company made the decision to quit using the antibiotic immediately to ease consumer worries, though he said there's no proof that such antibiotics contribute to drug resistance among people.

Bacteria mutating to resist antibiotic treatment are a growing health threat that increasingly leaves penicillin and other infection fighters ineffective. Resistance develops when antibiotics are overused, either by people or animals, researchers say.

Dr. Stuart Levy, president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics in Boston and director of Tufts University's Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance, said he was pleased with Tyson's decision.

“As someone who has been advocating the improvement of antibiotic use in animals, this is an important step forward,” he said. “It's (also) a step forward to the human side of antibiotics.”

Bayer plans to take its case to keep marketing Baytril, the animal version of the anthrax-fighting drug Cipro, to an administrative law judge later this year. Bayer disputes arguments that growing resistance to antibiotics is tied to Baytril.

However, the FDA says that since 1995, when Baytril was approved for poultry, there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of cases in which people developed food-borne illnesses that resisted treatment by Cipro and other human forms of those drugs.

In a statement, Bayer said it supported Tyson's decision but believes there is a valid use for fluoroquinolones when necessary.

“Fluoroquinolones play an important role in treating poultry with serious illnesses, thereby assuring the safety and wholesomeness of our nation's food supply,” the company said.

It said it plans on telling the FDA that it is confident there is scientific proof that the therapeutic use of fluoroquinones in poultry poses no threat to public health.

As for treating sick birds, Tyson said it could just switch to another antibiotic.

“We'll just simply have to find another tool to use,” Nicholson said. “Antibiotics are only used where there is an acute veterinary medical need.”

Tyson also did not commit to ending use of fluoroquinolones in its breeding flocks, which lay eggs but are not sold as food.

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