Tips to Help You Avoid Superbugs in Meat

Why avoid meat raised with antibiotics?

A sick animal may need an antibiotic. However, most animals raised for food in the U.S., about 8.9 billion per year, come from factory farms where healthy animals are given antibiotics in their food and water to prevent infection in their crowded, stressful and sometimes unsanitary living conditions. Several livestock producers also feed healthy animals antibiotics to make them grow faster, with no prescription needed.

Antibiotic overuse has dangerous consequences, since it:

• Breeds superbugs: Misusing antibiotics on a farm breeds antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
• Spreads superbugs: Animals and livestock workers can transmit resistant bacteria to water, soil and air. Superbugs also travel on meat to stores and kitchens.
• Spreads resistance: Once bacteria develop resistance to one antibiotic, they can often tolerate others as well and spread this trait to nearby bacteria.
• Undermines antibiotics: Superbugs cause infections that are harder to treat and more likely to cause complications and death.

In 2015, 83% of store-bought meat tested by the government was contaminated with Enterococci bacteria that can indicate fecal contamination: To be safe, treat all meat as if it’s contaminated, mainly by cooking it thoroughly and using safe shopping and kitchen practices.

High percentages of store-bought meat tested positive for antibiotic-resistant bacteria:

• Turkey: Ground turkey  79%
• Pork: Pork chops  71%
• Beef: Ground beef  62%
• Chicken: Breasts, wings or thighs  36%

Minimize exposure to superbugs in meat:

• Choose organic meat and meat raised without unnecessary antibiotics when you can. They have fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria, in part because these livestock producers rely on preventive medicine, good sanitation and stress reduction – not antibiotics – to keep animals healthy. Most stores offer options at reasonable prices.
• Buy from farmers and producers who use antibiotics prudently. Some sell locally, others online.
• Ask your butcher or local farmer how the meat was raised.

Labels can be misleading in the store (ewg.org/research/labeldecoder):

• Most reliable: American Grassfed, USDA Organic, Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane, Food Alliance Certified Grassfed, Global Animal Partnership, Marine Stewardship Council.
• Less reliable: American Humane Certified, Raised Without Antibiotics, No Antibiotics, No Antibiotics Ever, No Antibiotics Added, No Antibiotics Administered.
• Be wary:
  • No Antibiotic Residues, Antibiotic Free, No Antibiotic Growth Promotants. No Hormones or Steroids Added, Natural, or Kosher – doesn’t tell you anything about antibiotic use.
  • Bag raw meat before it goes in the grocery cart and keep it away from children.
  • Be especially careful with ground meats. They harbor more bacteria, because they have more surfaces where bacteria can lurk.

In the kitchen:

• Store meat on the lowest rack in the fridge, away from fresh produce.
• Thaw meat in the fridge.
• Use separate cutting boards for meat and produce.
• Don’t wash meat – splashing water spreads bacteria.
• Use a food thermometer to ensure meat is cooked thoroughly.
• Learn more about safe practices in EWG’s wallet guide ewg.org/antibioticswalletguide and at foodsafety.gov.

To prevent superbug infections in general:

• Wash your hands: After using the bathroom, before preparing or eating food, after gardening or other dirty tasks, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, feeding or stroking your pet, or visiting or caring for a sick person.
• When eating out: Ask if meat was raised without unnecessary antibiotics.
• At the doctor’s office: Don’t press for unnecessary antibiotics. Your doctor is less likely to prescribe one if you don’t insist. Parents are the primary reason for antibiotic overuse in children.
• Get recommended vaccines: You’re more susceptible to a superbug infection if you have the flu, pneumonia or shingles.
• Share this information with family and friends.
• Help preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics: ewg.org/AntibioticsAction
• Learn about health and environmental impacts of meat: ewg.org/meateatersguide

Reference:

Environmental Working Group ( ewg.org/meateatersguide/superbugs), June 2018.