Aldermen, Chefs Call For Ban On Non-Therapeutic Use Of Antibiotics
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A City Council panel and several Chicago chefs have joined the effort to convince Congress to ban the routine use of antibiotics for livestock, saying the practice can hasten the spread of so-called "superbugs."
WBBM Newsradio's Craig Dellimore reports Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke (14th) sponsored a resolution backing a Congressional ban on giving antibiotics to healthy livestock.
Burke was joined by several noted Chicago chefs, including Chicago's so-called Breakfast Queen, Ina Pinkney, who said overuse of antibiotics can foster drug-resistant bacteria, and that can affect consumers when they eat the meat.
"You become resistant, because you are ingesting antibiotics with every bit of factory-farmed protein that you eat," she said. "So little-by-little you begin to get a resistance, and so when your doctor prescribes an antibiotic that you may need, and it doesn't work, you may have to go to a stronger one, and yet another stronger one."
Other chefs throwing their weight behind the resolution included Rick Bayless, John Caputo, Michael Shrear, and more than a dozen others.
The Finance Committee approved the resolution Tuesday, sending it to the full City Council for a possible vote on Wednesday.