ASSESSING THE RESULTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION BAN ON ANTIBIOTIC FEED ADDITIVES

摘要

The European Union (EU) banned the use of avoparcin, a widely used antibiotic feed additive in food-producing animals in 1997. The ban was carried out against the advice of the Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition (1,24), a panel of experts composed of animal scientists from various EU countries. Two years later, the EU banned the use of bacitracin, spiramycin, tylosin and virginiamycin, once more the ban was carried out against the expert scientific advice of the SCAN (1,25) citing fears of antibiotic resistance spread via the food chain and invoking the precautionary principle.