UK: Which supermarkets routinely use antibiotics in meat production?
Staff Writer |
A new report from the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics shows major differences between leading UK supermarkets antibiotic policies, in the first assessment of its kind.
Article continues below
As British livestock farmers continue to reduce their antibiotic use, the report also shows that far greater reductions are achievable in farming systems which focus on high animal health and welfare.
The assessment of supermarket policies found that five of the eight retailers - Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose - included in the survey have now introduced welcome bans on their suppliers using antibiotics for routine disease prevention.
Morrisons has a ban in some species but not in others, Aldi has some restrictions but no ban and Asda and Lidl two have no restrictions other than the minimum required by law.
Waitrose has the most comprehensive antibiotics policies, including limits on the use of critically important antibiotics, a ban on the use of the last-resort human antibiotic colistin, and a collection of antibiotic-use data.
The next best policies were those of M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Lidl is the only supermarket included in the survey that had no publicly available antibiotic policies.
Using the latest available scientific and antibiotic-use data, the report finds that less intensive farming systems, including organic and some high-quality indoor systems, generally have much lower levels of antibiotic use.
Findings also illustrate that the factors which contribute to high disease and antibiotic use vary by species.
Pigs: Later weaning of piglets, as practiced in Sweden and in organic farming, leads to much lower antibiotic use. Rearing pigs outdoors, or in “enriched” indoor systems with lower stocking densities, can minimise disease problems leading to antibiotic use.
Broiler Chickens: Fast-growing broiler chickens, which reach slaughter age in just 32-40 days, are widely used in intensive farming and have much greater need for antibiotics than the slower-growing breeds used in free-range and organic farming and increasingly in indoor farming in the Netherlands.
Lower stocking densities in indoor flocks are linked to reduced disease incidence, as air quality is better, wet litter is less of a problem and disease spread is lessened.
Dairy cows: According to the European Food Safety Authority, ”zero-grazing” dairy systems, where cows are kept indoors all year round, increase the risk of mastitis, foot problems and reproductive disorders, which are the main health problems in dairy cows leading to antibiotic use.
Genetic selection for high milk yield, which has increased from 4,100 litres per cow a year in 1975 to 7,900 litres today, is also positively correlated with these conditions.
Beef Cattle: The report finds that British beef cattle, which are often farmed relatively extensively, have much lower antibiotic use than more intensively farmed cattle and veal calves in some other European countries like the Netherlands, highlighting the need to avoid moves to greater intensification. ■
Morrisons has a ban in some species but not in others, Aldi has some restrictions but no ban and Asda and Lidl two have no restrictions other than the minimum required by law.