Reducing the amount of antibiotics used in food production could help stop the rise of antibiotic resistance. Photo: Getty Food animals are consuming greater quantities of antibiotics than humans and it’s putting our health at risk, researchers have warned. A “large volume of antibiotics is used in food-producing animals in Australia”, and that has grave implications for the ongoing effectiveness of life-saving antibiotic medicines in humans, according to an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday. Slashing the massive amount of antibiotics given to animals in Australia is key to fighting the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance in humans, Monash University Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Allen Cheng and Alfred Health researcher Freya Langham wrote. Using data from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and the National Antimicrobial Utilisation Surveillance Program, the researchers showed that staggering quantities of antibiotics that are […]