View from Europe on ABF
Striving for responsible antibiotic use may be a better strategy than going 100% antibiotic-free, according to Peter Spring, a professor and gut-disease specialist at Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland.
Speaking at the 2016 Poultry Science Association Meeting in New Orleans, Spring said he does not like the term antibiotic-free and instead prefers that producers strive to be responsible users of antibiotics, according to a report on WattAgNet.com.
He noted that rather than go 100% antibiotic-free, poultry producers in Europe try to use the least amount of antibiotics possible in production. That way, producers don’t run into problems marketing birds that need to be treated.
According to Spring, producing those birds without a way to make use of them would be immoral. US producers might find themselves in trouble in the future if the market for treated birds continues to shrink, he added.
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