As part of its efforts to curb antibiotic usage and address the issue of antibiotic resistance in humans, the US FDA announced that it will phase out the non-therapeutic use of antibiotic medication for animals used in food production.

A lot of livestock growers use antibiotics in the water and food given to poultry, hogs, cattle and other food animals to control disease, boost growth and reduce feeding requirements. However, some of these antibiotics play a vital role in human health and using them in food production animals may increase human resistance to it.

The FDA has asked pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily change their antibiotic medication labels in order to remove indications of animal production, as compared to disease control. The agency issued new guidance to drug companies about how to achieve these changes. It also called for revising the status of OTC drugs to ensure that the therapeutic uses of antibiotics for these animals are supervised by veterinarians.

If drug companies sign up for these recommended changes, antibiotics will be marked ‘important for human health’ and can long be used for boosting animal production. They can only be used to prevent, control or treat specific diseases in animals under veterinary guidance and a valid prescription.