World Animal Protection highlights the threat of superbugs on World Food Day

The rise of superbugs from industrial farming is presenting a danger to public health worldwide says global charity World Animal Protection. This is because on industrial farms, animals are routinely given the same important antibiotics used to treat humans who are seriously ill.

On World Food Day, Oct. 16, a report released by the organization shows that superbugs are emerging on farms from antibiotic overuse and those antibiotic resistant bacteria are entering our food chain and our environment. Almost three-quarters of the world’s antibiotics are used in animals, the majority on industrial farms. Antibiotics are often used to sustain low-welfare practices, such as the raising of fast-growing meat chickens and painful procedures performed on piglets, including cutting their teeth and tails. Many of these animals are housed in stressful, cramped conditions that can provide the perfect breeding ground for the spread of infection and emergence of disease.