Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
Meat without Drugs
Many dangerous strains of bacteria are now resistant to most common antibiotics. Yet we continue to saturate our environment with antibiotics to promote the growth of livestock raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions. We must preserve our antibiotics, while improving life for our animals.
Consumers Union Documents
- The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health
Experts weigh in on the connection between antibiotic use in animals and the loss of effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine
- Take this flyer to Trader Joe’s!
Trader Joe’s needs to hear from you, their customers! Download our version of their ‘Fearless Flyer’ and take it with you the next time you shop. Get instructions and download the flyer here!
- Read the report: “Meat On Drugs: The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals & What Supermarkets and Consumers Can Do to Stop It”
Click here to see the full report.
- What’s in a name: Reading meat labels about antibiotic use
Consumers can have a very high level of trust that any meat and poultry labeled “USDA Organic” has never been given any antibiotics at any stage of production. Organic producers follow strict USDA guidelines in order to use the label on their products, which indicates that many healthful and environmentally sound practices were employed in Continue Reading
- Will meat raised without antibiotics cost more?
Meat and poultry raised without antibiotics does not have to be expensive. In the Consumer Reports shopper survey, prices of such meat and poultry varied considerably depending on store, type of meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) and cut. In some cases our shoppers found prices that were actually lower than the national average. For example, while the national average price in March Continue Reading
- What should the government do to regulate antibiotics?
Consumers Union recommends government take the following actions to end the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production. Congress While consumer pressure may be a more immediate catalyst for moving livestock producers away from using antibiotics, a long-term and more permanent legislative or regulatory solution would be ideal. A bill that has been introduced in Congress, the Preservation Continue Reading
- Consumer Opinion Poll on Antibiotics in Animal Feed
Survey Research Report, Consumer Reports® National Research Center
Press Releases
- Consumers Union Applauds Senate Bill to Boost Data on Use of Antibiotics in Meat
A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would help the FDA study the use of antimicrobial drugs in food producing animals
- Ad in LA Times Urges Trader Joe’s to Stop Selling Meat Raised on Antibiotics
Ad highlights how the overuse of antibiotics in livestock is promoting the spread of drug resistant superbugs that threaten public health.
- CU urges Congress to stop superbugs and make ground turkey safer
Consumers Union is also asking members of Congress to support legislation that would address these issues
- Consumer Reports: Bacteria on turkey raised without antibiotics showed significantly less antibiotic resistance than bacteria on conventional turkey
Ninety percent of samples had one or more of the five bacteria for which CR tested
- Meat Without Drugs campaign heads to Davis, CA Trader Joe’s
The campaign aims to convince the grocer to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics.
- Consumers Union Endorses Bill to Stop Superbugs, Curb Overuse of Antibiotics on Food Animals
Rep. Louise Slaughter reintroduces bill to end the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production.
- Meat Without Drugs Campaign in Santa Cruz for Valentine’s Day
Special Valentine’s Day outreach event aims to convince Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat and poultry raised on antibiotics.
- Trader Joe’s Urged to Get “Joe the Pig” Off Drugs For the Holidays
Meat Without Drugs Campaign Makes Holiday Push In San Francisco
To Convince Trader Joe’s to Stop Selling Meat Raised on Antibiotics - New study: Consumer Reports finds antibiotic-resistant bacteria in pork products
New research showed contamination by several kinds of bacteria, much of which proved resistant to one or more antibiotics important in human medicine.
- CU Highlights Overuse of Drugs in Food Animals for “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week”
Consumers Union Urges Major Reduction of Antibiotics in Food Animal Production To Protect Public Health Consumer Group Highlights The Overuse of Drugs In Food Animals During CDC’s “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week” YONKERS, NY — Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, today called for a major reduction in the Continue Reading
Blog Posts
- Loyal, misinformed employees defend Trader Joe’s on Facebook
Trader Joe’s employees are a loyal bunch, so much so that many believe their beloved Joe can do no wrong. So when a group of workers saw our Facebook post last week asking the company to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics, the response was … notable. Getting past the name calling (and some colorful Continue Reading
- Trader Joe’s responds on antibiotics issue, but still no commitment
In response to hundreds of calls Trader Joe’s headquarters has been getting from customers asking them to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics, the company has issued a statement on their website. “We don’t presume to make choices for [customers],” it says, and points to some options shoppers have in their stores of organic and Continue Reading
- Say it Ain’t So, Trader Joe
For a company that says it listens to its customers, sometimes Trader Joe’s can be hard to reach. And for a friendly ‘neighborhood grocery store,’ sometimes they’re not so friendly when you actually do. For almost a year, Consumers Union has been trying by various means to start a dialogue with the grocery chain on Continue Reading
- LA Times ad urges Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat raised on anitibiotics
Pick up a copy of the LA Times today? If so, you probably saw this ad urging Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics. It’s an ask that’s been made many times – in many ways – over the past year by hundreds of thousands of you, but so far Trader Joe’s isn’t listening. Continue Reading
- Consumer Reports turkey tests find fewer superbugs in ‘no antibiotics’ meat samples
The meat industry wants us to believe that routinely feeding antibiotics to animals is nothing to worry about. But a new investigation from Consumer Reports found plenty of reasons to be concerned. The study analyzed 257 samples of both conventional and ‘no antibiotics’ ground turkey from supermarket shelves and found widespread bacterial contamination. But the bacteria in Continue Reading
- (Super)Moms, chefs, docs fight overuse of antibiotics in livestock in D.C.
Danielle Wadsworth thought nothing of the ground beef she cooked up one night to make tacos for dinner. But several days later, quarantined in the hospital fighting for her life, she was told that she was sickened by Salmonella typhmurium, an antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella that was later traced to the beef she’d eaten. Today, Continue Reading
- More evidence shows animals spread antibiotic-resistant infections to humans
Evidence of the passing of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant infection MRSA from animals to humans just grew stronger according to a new study out of the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge scientists, using DNA fingerprinting, matched MRSA superbugs in two different people to MRSA in the cows and sheep on the farms where they lived. Continue Reading
- Congress introduces bill to curb antibiotics in food animals
Recently the CDC raised the alarm about antibiotic resistant bacteria (superbugs) and the implications they have on public health in the United States. A report from Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control, warned that “our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections.” Citing the connection Continue Reading
- Call grows for action on antibiotics in food animals
There’s been a growing call for action in recent weeks to address the threat to public health posed by the routine use of antibiotics in healthy food animals. It’s no wonder given years of inaction by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and mounting evidence that the overuse of antibiotics in meat production is getting worse. Continue Reading
- Trader Joe’s employees offer misleading claims about their meat
Ask a Trader Joe’s employee about the meat in your shopping basket, and you may or may not get an answer based on, well, facts. We’ve received reports from over 100 people who talked to Trader Joe’s managers, employees and customer service reps across the country with the request that the company stop selling meat Continue Reading
News Articles
- Regulate the use of antibiotics on farm animals Source: Denver Post (Thursday May 9, 2013)
- Antibiotics used in livestock lead to superbugs Source: Poughkeepsie Journal (Tuesday May 7, 2013)
- Trader Joe's targeted for meat with antibiotics, candy with lead Source: LA Times (Friday May 3, 2013)
- Consumers Union Ad Urges Trader Joe's to Help Curb A Major Public Health Crisis Source: Yahoo News (Thursday May 2, 2013)
- Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs Turn Up Again In Turkey Meat Source: NPR - The Salt (Wednesday May 1, 2013)
- Ground turkey caution due to bacteria Source: ABC News (Tuesday April 30, 2013)
- Consumers Union: 'Superbugs' in livestock becoming 'national health crisis' Source: The Hill (Tuesday April 30, 2013)
- Report: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in ground turkey Source: Reuters (Tuesday April 30, 2013)
- Senators Ask FDA to Be More Transparent with Food Animal Antibiotics Data Source: Food Safety News (Friday April 26, 2013)
- It is vital that we monitor antibiotic use in livestock Source: The Tennessean (Tuesday April 16, 2013)