The use of antibiotics in swine has been greatly overestimated by critics according to a new study by Kansas State University.  

P. Scott Shearer, Vice President

April 13, 2012

1 Min Read
Antibiotic Use in Swine – Lower than Critics Claim

The use of antibiotics in swine has been greatly overestimated by critics according to a new study by Kansas State University.  The study published in the March issue of Foodborne Pathogens & Disease, studied data from a 2006 USDA swine survey and a 2009 survey of swine veterinarians.  The study showed that pork producers use some 1.6 million pounds of antibiotics for growth promotion/nutritional efficiency and disease prevention.  The Union of Concerned Scientists’ report, “Hogging It,’ claimed that 10.3 million pounds a years were used.  The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said, “Pork producers use antibiotics carefully and judiciously to protect public health and the health of their animals and to produce safe food.  To denigrate America’s hog farmers by deliberately peddling misinformation about how they care for their animals is despicable.”  

About the Author(s)

P. Scott Shearer

Vice President, Bockorny Group, Inc.

Scott Shearer is vice president of the Bockorny Group Inc., a leading bipartisan government affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C. With more than 30 years experience in government and corporate relations in state and national arenas, he is recognized as a leader in agricultural trade issues, having served as co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for U.S.-China Trade and co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for Trade Promotion Authority. Scott was instrumental in the passage of China Permanent Normal Trade Relations and TPA. He is past chairman of the USDA-USTR Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Animals and Animal Products and was a member of the USAID Food Security Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the Bockorny Group, Scott served as director of national relations for Farmland Industries Inc., as well as USDA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs (1993-96), serving as liaison for the Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA to Congress.

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