Meat + Poultry - March 2006 - 67

FSI MEDIA WATCH

YOUR LINK THROUGH THE FOOD CHAIN

Greg Henderson

The untold antibiotic story

■

There is usually no medicine for
the sick feeling industry insiders
get when the nation's media tackle
antibiotic use in farm production.
Invariably, the stories have sensational headlines telling consumers the
food they have trusted for years is going
to keep them - or their children -
from fending off the next bout of the
flu. The articles are peppered with
comments from activist organizations
like the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, Union of
Concerned Scientists
or Keep Antibiotics
Working. Near the end
of the articles, the reporters work in the other
perspective. That perspective
varies from corporate no
comments to short clips from
reasoned explanations that sound
sketchy without the background that
ends up on the cutting-room floor.
Antibiotics is a topic that doesn't fit
well into a short television news spot or
a 15-inch story.
But, like many activists hope, the
science of antibiotic use is what gets
deleted. Whether it is assumed by the
reporters or editors that the readers
read an older story that discussed that
aspect, or there just wasn't time for the
harried reporter to become that much
of an expert on the topic, in-depth
scientific explanations give way to short
sentences supporting seemingly logical
urban myths.
USA Today set the standard for
small news holes, leaving contributing
facts and theories by the wayside to get
to the crux of each story quickly. Elizabeth Weise's "'Natural' chickens take
flight," from the Jan. 24, 2006, edition,
in many ways, bucks the trend.
In the article, Weise handles the
news quickly and adeptly: Tyson Foods,
Gold Kist, Perdue Farms and Foster
Farms are stopping the use of antibiotics
for growth promotion in chickens and

16 FSI

FOOD SYSTEMS

ınsıder

MARCH 2006

"severely limiting" the use of antibiotics
for disease prevention. Her work at the
top of the story opens up space to cover
the myriad of issues associated with
antibiotics.
She quotes and refers to the usual
activist groups hounding the industry on
the issue. She also quotes three veterinarians on the topic - two associated with
the companies involved.
Most impressively,
she weaves in a paragraph discussing
the history of
antibiotics,
partially
explaining
why
they are
in use at all.
But Weise also
made a common mistake,
one that activists love and makes
industry insiders groan.
"(Various groups) have been calling
for an end to low levels of antibiotics in
animal feed since the 1990s because it
has been linked to human bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics."
It's a statement that has been
echoed over and over in the media,
originally within quotes from various
activists and now without quotes stated
as fact. The message has been pounded
into the nation's media and watching
consumers so much that the arguments
about its validity are ignored, forgotten,
or worse, there just isn't enough room
to explain it.
The statement's truthfulness is less
relevant than its morphing existence
(from quote to fact) and what it alludes
to for the future of the food industry. It
shows how a message can move from
theory to fact without the benefit of
concorded science. ■
By James Arnold
food360°

Editorial director
ghenderson@food360.com

Kristal Arnold
Editor
karnold@food360.com

800-255-5113
■

Board of Advisers
Charles Ahlem
Founder, Hilmar Cheese Co.

Dennis DiPietre
Pork-industry consultant

Thomas Helscher
Director of global
industry affairs, Monsanto

Daryl Olsen, DVM
Audubon-Manning Veterinary
Clinic Management Services

Mike Robach
VP food safety, Cargill

John Story
Grocery-industry consultant

Warren Weibert
Owner,
Decatur County Feed Yard

Brad White, DVM
Kansas State University
College of Veterinary Medicine

■

Corporate Partners

■

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Copyright 2006

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Meat + Poultry - March 2006

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