In other words, except for those who are allergic to certain antibiotics, most people don t need to worry about the consumption of antibiotic residues. And if food is cooked and handled properly, infection from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals will be prevented. That is also why experts advise against the use of antibiotics unless tests have confirmed that an infection is bacterial. Antibiotics, for example, cannot cure the flu because it is a viral infection. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics in humans remains an extremely serious problem.
Most farmers give animals antibiotics when they are ill.
Many also give them to young animals to prevent infection and to promote growth. Compelling evidence that the use of antibiotics in animals affects human resistance was laid out in the mid 1990s. The antibiotic fluoroquinolone was not used in poultry until 1995. In Minnesota, which keeps excellent public health records on foodborne disease, no resistance was reported in humans who were treated with fluoroquinolones for campylobacteriosis before that time. The safest course is to buy organic meat and poultry.