Pyrrhic progress : the history of antibiotics in Anglo American food production Frontmatter Contents List of Abbreviations 1. The Sound of Coughing Pigs Part I. USA: From Industrialized Agriculture to Manufactured Hazards 1949 1967 Introduction 2. Picking Ones Poisons: Antibiotics and the Public 3. Chemical Cornucopia: Antibiotics on the Farm 4. Toxic Priorities: Antibiotics and the FDA Part II. Britain: From Rationing to Gluttony 1945 1969 Introduction 5. Fusing Concerns: Antibiotics and the British Public 6. Bigger Better Faster: Antibiotics and British Farming 7. Typing Resistance: Antibiotic Regulation in Britain Part III. USA: The Problem of Plenty 1967 2013 Introduction 8. Marketplace Environmentalism: Antibiotics Public Concerns and Consumer Solutions 9. Light Green Reform: Antibiotic Change on American Farms 10. Statutory Defeat: Voluntarism and the Limits of FDA Power Part IV. Britain: From Gluttony to Fear 1970 2018 Introduction 11. Between Swann Patriotism and BSE: Antibiotics in the Public Sphere 12. Persistent Infrastructures: Antibiotic Reform and British Farming 13. Swann Song: British Antibiotic Policy After 1969 Conclusion: Antibiotics Unleashed Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index About the Author Pyrrhic Progress analyses over half a century of antibiotic use regulation and resistance in US and British food production. Mass introduced after 1945 antibiotics helped revolutionize post war agriculture. Food producers used antibiotics to prevent and treat disease protect plants preserve food and promote animals growth. Many soon became dependent on routine antibiotic use to sustain and increase production. The resulting growth of antibiotic infrastructures came at a price. Critics blamed antibiotics for leaving dangerous residues in food enabling bad animal welfare and selecting for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria which could no longer be treated with antibiotics. Pyrrhic Progress reconstructs the complicated negotiations that accompanied this process of risk prioritization between consumers farmers and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Unsurprisingly solutions differed: while Europeans implemented precautionary antibiotic restrictions to curb AMR consumer concerns and cost benefit assessments made US regulators focus on curbing drug residues in food. The result was a growing divergence of antibiotic stewardship and a rise of AMR. Kirchhelles comprehensive analysis of evolving non human antibiotic use and the historical complexities of antibiotic stewardship provides important insights for current debates on the global burden of AMR