Health hazards from animal feedstuffs

A widespread practice in animal husbandry in recent years has been to add substances to animal feeds in order to promote their growth or protect them against diseases which could kill them or stunt their growth. These substances include a wide variety of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic agents (such as antiprotozoal and antibacterial compounds), vitamins and other concentrated and synthetic food substances. The drugs are presumed to act mainly as suppressors of disease agents, although they may also exert as yet ill-defined non-specific effects that promote animal growth. Undesirable effects of food additives include the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of micro-organisms that, when transferred to man, may cause considerable medical and public health problems. Allergic reactions and toxic effects in man may also occur. Unmetabolised drugs are excreted and may enter natural ecological cycles, contaminating wild animals.

1. Misuse of veterinary drugs
2. Health hazards from food and drink

1. Residues of veterinary drugs in foods
2. Excessive use of hormones in animal husbandry
3. Contaminated animal feed
4. Abuse of antibiotics and vaccines in factory farming

1. Zoonoses
2. Water pollution from fish production
3. Water pollution by pharmaceuticals
4. Health hazards from meat and meat preparations
5. Effluents from animal husbandry
6. Concentration of noxious substances in food chains
7. Antimicrobial drug resistance
8. Allergy

1. Prohibitive livestock husbandry costs

1. Infected animals
2. Dietary deficiencies in domestic animals

1. Intensive farming
2. Denial to working animals of restorative nourishment and rest
3. Chemical trespass
4. Allergy inducing industrial chemicals

1. Reducing meat consumption to conserve grain
2. Reducing environmental pollution by drugs
3. Improving animal feed products