As a result of the Reuters’ report regarding the use of antibiotics in meat production, Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) plans to introduce legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect data on “farm-level antibiotic use.” In a letter to the FDA, Gillibrand said that the “scale of injudicious use” of antibiotics in poultry production documented in the Reuters’ report “was staggering.”

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is asking for Congress to address this issue and to support her legislation that would require drug makers, livestock producers and the FDA to release more data on antibiotic use in food animals. She said, “Since 1999, I have been calling for an end to the overuse of antibiotics on the farm. Industry has kept data showing the rampant, dangerous use of antibiotics hidden from the public for one reason: to protect corporate profits at the expense of public health. It is unconscionable but not surprising that the agribusiness and pharmaceutical companies are still calling the shots.”