Sanderson farms announce halt in the use of antibiotics

US giant, Sanderson farms has announced its discontinuance of the use of antibiotics which are considered ‘medically important for humans.’ The antibiotics to be discontinued are namely virginiamycin and gentamicin which are used in preventing diseases in its poultry birds. 

This policy change will, according to Joe Sanderson, CEO Sanderson Farms, take effect from March 1, 2019.

This development is as a result of research carried out by the company earlier this year on overall aspects of its current antibiotics programme. The study revealed that the aforementioned antibiotics currently being used by the company were medically important for humans.

Mr. Sanderson however, expressed his desire in keeping to the sane use of antibiotics and pointed out the confirmation in the policy change. He also expressed confidence in the company’s veterinary team in making sure the policy change does not affect the health of the poultry birds in the farms.

This development has been praised by the US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) which cited indiscriminate antibiotic use as one of the largest problems plaguing world heatlh.