There is no simple “sound-bite” answer when it comes to antibiotics says the British Poultry Council (BPC), commenting in a new statement, placed on its website, to highlight the industry’s progress in fighting antibiotic resistance and its commitment to keep doing more,
“We’ve never claimed to have all the answers, and the impacts of our precautionary approach are in the process of being fully realised and analysed,” said BPC. “Our priority remains the health of our birds and the responsible therapeutic use of antibiotics, but we also need to explore further into the science of the issue.”
Noting that antibiotic resistance is complex, with evidence of it persisting even after stopping the use of antibiotics, BPC added that there is a need to continue challenging resistant bacteria.
“How best to do this is just one of the incredibly difficult questions we and the scientific community are trying to answer,” it said.
“However, there is no sound-bite answer when it comes to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is an incredibly important subject for both animal and human health and the British poultry sector is determined to proceed along the route of responsible and reducing use. Using fewer antibiotics will put less pressure on bacteria in the poultry production chain to select for resistance, and we will see that resistance drop.”
