A dish featuring antibiotic-free beef from Strauss Beef served at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash.
Courtesy of Overlake Medical Center
Every year some 2 million Americans get infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and 23,000 of them die from these superbugs.
Superbugs are mostly a hospital problem: They’re where these pathogens are often born and spread, and where the infected come for help. But hospitals are not where the majority of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used.
Food and Drug Administration data show that 62 percent of antibiotics important for human health are sold to food animal producers and used on farms. And in December, the agency noted that antibiotics for use on the farm increased in 2014, including antibiotics important in human medicine.
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