The problem beyond the peanuts: Feeding human antibiotics to hogs makes salmonella harder to cure.

For the hundreds of Americans who have been sickened by salmonella-tainted peanut products, life-saving antibiotics are helping to prevent a catastrophe. But if we don't change our livestock feeding practices, soon the salmonella may win.

On many large industrial farms, antibiotics commonly used by humans are fed routinely to the animals, not to cure illness but to compensate for crowded, unsanitary conditions and to stimulate faster growth. Unfortunately, this also promotes the development of new and deadly strains of drug-resistant bacteria.*

Congress needs to protect American consumers by preventing the misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture and reforming our food safety laws. Learn more at SaveAntibiotics.org.

*For references and additional background, see “Antimicrobial Resistance and Human Health,” a technical report of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, at www.pcifap.org.