Animal Antibiotics (VIDEO): Denmark's Limited Antibiotic Industry

In Part Two of her expose on antibiotic use in animals, CBS anchor Katie Couric travels to Denmark to see the other side of the spectrum (see Part One here).

While industrial farms in the U.S. use antibiotics on healthy farm animals to promote growth and prevent disease, the Danish only use antibiotics when animals are sick, Couric said. They launched what's known as the "Danish Experiment" 12 years ago, after a study revealed a link between animals who take antibiotics to people who develop drug-resistant infections after handling or eating that meat.

"The food consists of wheat, barley and oats, soya, and a mineral mix," Soren Helmer, a Danish pig farmer, said. "No antibiotics here."

Helmer thought switching to antibiotic-free animals would not be as efficient a method of producing pigs. To the contrary, the Danish pork industry has grown by 43 percent since the ban, Couric reported.

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Quick Poll

What do you think of Denmark's antibotics policy?

This is GREAT. We should ban antibiotics in healthy farm animals in the US also.

It seems good, but not sure it would work on such a large scale.

I don't understand what the big deal is.

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Comments

[OrganicGeorge]

09:04 AM on 02/13/2010

There are lots of non-antibiotic farms in the US, they are called certified organic.

[equianimi]

05:25 PM on 02/12/2010

It's a shame those turkeys are still not allowed to live like a turkey should, but I suppose it's better than a lot of farms.

[hulagirrrl]

06:11 PM on 02/13/2010

I do not eat turkey, when I see the humongous breasts at the grocery store, I can only think about how these breasts are too big to allow any turkey to stand up and walk... I do not want to be part of that. All this chicken/turkey craze drives me crazy. They get antibiotics as well, so do shrimps and fish in farms to keep the water free of bacteria. Best eat a nice meat from a reputable source every now and then, and not every day for cheap cheap... you pay now or you pay later.

[JScott]

09:38 AM on 02/12/2010

Hmm grown 43% kinda deflates that claim that it can't be done. And I thought the Danes were noted for their famous Danish Ham.

[hulagirrrl]

06:13 PM on 02/13/2010

I think that all over Europe most farmers have moved away from antibiotics. US meat is not allowed for import in some countries because of the growth hormones. There is still room for every country to improve though. We have to find solutions to the way things are done now...

[Beth Boyle]

08:45 AM on 02/12/2010

I raise my own lamb for the table because I do not want to eat meat that is full of Antibiotics.

[rf dude]

08:22 AM on 02/12/2010

'
So, which newspapers or magazines do Farm Animals read...

[onenvrnos]

08:01 AM on 02/12/2010

What is wrong with America? And, they don't think the pharmaceutical industry controls our very sustenance just to make money? DISGUSTING!

[equianimi]

05:26 PM on 02/12/2010

Yeah I don't know why Katie Couric even talks about the FDA. They are ran by pharma so it's ridiculous to make it sound like they actually regulate anything.

[Photofarm]

06:27 PM on 02/11/2010

Sigh, now why don't they tell the rest of the story. One is that antibiotic use in animals hasn't decreased. The other is that they determined hospitals use of antibiotics is the real source of resistance.

[quiviran]

09:23 PM on 02/11/2010

Sources?

[Photofarm]

12:21 AM on 02/12/2010

When you read quite a bit, and it is several months ago, it is hard to pull the sources in a few minutes.

[MJinCanada]

12:13 AM on 02/15/2010

Do you mean when doctors prescribe antibiotics for colds and other viruses, because patients expect/demand it? That's crazy and needs better education for patients and more sense from doctors.

I don't know what they do in the US system, but in Canada antibiotics are not a regular part of surgery unless there is a real risk of infection, e.g., bowel surgery. Currently, in my city at least, the preferred option is more oxygen after surgery to reduce infection risk. Both my sister and I had surgery last year and no antibiotics.

[ibejamin]

05:48 PM on 02/11/2010

I am very pleased with this post. People need to find a better way to raise meat. Personally, I prefer vegetarianism, but hey...I'll take any step in the right direction.

[mzrecycle]

04:41 PM on 02/11/2010

Glad to see that news coverage is given to meat production without antibiotics. I haven't eaten beef or pork for 39 yrs., but the chicken I buy is without hormones or antibiotics. Don't know if they have a good environment, however.

I'm not surprised at the results of the poll; after all, the poll is on the GREEN page. It needs to be on a neutral page to be anywhere near informative.

[equianimi]

05:29 PM on 02/12/2010

It'd be interesting to put that poll on politico or a glenn beck fan page (his name is not capitalized for a reason) and see what the results are.

[BannedNBoston]

02:34 PM on 02/11/2010

CBS was doing a great service by raising this issue HATS OFF to Katie!!!

[paliuli]

02:04 PM on 02/11/2010

When I meditate on the life of a factory farmed animal, I immediately begin to feel it's emotions, and frankly, it is horrifying.

We are animals, too, but the only animals that can pick and choose from amongst a million different menu items from around the world. Our brother and sister animals are limited to what they can choose to eat, by a number of circumstances.

We can observe them consuming each other, as a natural part of the cycle of birth and death, and ask ourselves, where do we fit in - now? Now, we no longer have to hunt, run down our prey, fight and kill it, and eat it alive with our bare hands. Although, if we had to, we could. But that is a lot of hard work. By gaining the trust of animals, we domesticated them, so we could kill them at our leisure.

So, here we are today, consuming obscene amounts of putrid animal flesh, mainly from custom. All of our holidays are celebrated around consuming dead meat, sugar, and drugs. These are comforting old customs, and will change only gradually. One by one, women are are eating less meat, and in time this will be happening with the men, too. I see it happening everyday, all around me.

[LiberalBuzz]

12:41 PM on 02/11/2010

I am not a big meat eater although I do like my chicken. I rarely eat pork maybe once or twice a year and maybe have hamburgers or steak half a dozen times a year In fact I had steak once last year.

BUT I like this idea of treating the animals with real food rather than anti biotics. I think it's better for everyone concerned.

NOW if they can just figure a way to raise meat without using animals.......

[futate01]

01:53 PM on 02/11/2010

They have: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece

... but would you really want to eat that?

[KarlaElisa]

12:39 PM on 02/11/2010

This is a really important story and while I appreciate Couric doing it, it was like a 10 minute piece or something. WAY too brief.

One could dedicate an entire 2 shows and still have plenty left to say. And it's but the tip of the iceberg really. What they are FEEDING the animals is affecting our health as well. Many farm animals are not supposed to be eating corn, let alone what the hazards of the Bt Corn (genetically engineered) corn is doing to them and us.

I have to wonder if the reason airing this show was delayed was that CBS found itself editing the story over and over to assuage the fears of their corporate sponsors and the legal teams they had poised ready to leap into action.