FDA secures strong response on reducing antibiotic use in animal husbandry

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has secured the participation  of all but one animal drug company in the agency’s plan to phase out the use of medically important antimicrobials in food animals for food production purposes, such as artificial weight gain. each company has “committed in writing to seek withdrawal of approvals for any production uses of affected drug applications and change the remaining therapeutic uses of their prod- ucts from over-the-counter (OTC) to use by Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) or prescription.” See FDA News Release, March 26, 2014.