The Animal Health Institute "fears" that the Food and Drug Administration "has chosen to rely on reports with questionable scientific merit" in its decision to change the way antibiotics are used in food animals.

FDA also "seems to be ignoring extensive data and the conclusions of several expert reports that have supported the safety of the use of these drugs in food producing animals," says Alexander S. Mathews, AHI president and CEO.  "The FDA's framework, as drafted, will negatively affect the future availability of new products to safeguard the health of animals."

AHI, in it comments to FDA on the proposal, emphasized the need for immediate collection of more data and the necessity to complete a quantitative risk assessment.

"There is no documented case where the use of approved antibiotics in food animals has caused antibiotic treatment failures in humans," said Mathews.  "To date, no quantitative research has been conducted by the FDA or any other federal agency to determine the risk of resistant food borne pathogens."