Chipotle CEO joins Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and leading antibiotic expert to discuss the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009

WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, March 17, Rep. Louise Slaughter introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 (PAMTA), nearly one year after the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production recommended that America reform the way food animals are raised. The bill will seek the withdrawal of antibiotics important to human health from use on factory farms unless animals are sick. Medical experts agree that the misuse of antibiotics in industrial farming directly contributes to a dramatic rise in antibiotic-resistant infections in people. Opinion leaders have also been weighing in on the issue, including two recent columns by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof ("Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health" and "Pathogens in our Pork").

A media teleconference was held on March 17 where experts discussed this new legislation and why it is important to protecting human health.

Participants:

• Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Chair of the House Rules Committee, Microbiologist with Masters Degree in Public Health
• Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
• Dr. Stuart Levy, director, Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance and Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology and of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine
• Dr. Shelley Hearne, managing director, Pew Health & Human Services Policy Program