To be or not to be: Ukrainian farmers plan to stop using antibiotics in animal farming

Today, the use of antibiotics in animal farming is not controlled in Ukraine. In Europe, their use has been limited since 2006, writes “Agro-Center”.

In animal farming, antibiotics are used not only to treat ill animals. Often, dishonest farmers give them antibiotics so that meat and milk remain fresh longer. The worst thing about this is the consequences for those who consume such products.

“Unfortunately, there is no record of the amount of antibiotics used in animal farming in Ukraine, and of the amount of meat or milk produced with the use of antibiotics. Undeniably, a complete refusal to use antibiotics in animal farming will lead to an increase in prices for manufactured products. However, our association believes that the use of antibiotics should be limited and controlled,”

— said Iryna Palamar, chairman of the Ukrainian Animal Husbandry Association.

Frequent consumption of products that contain antibiotics can lead to “antimicrobial resistance.” The human body gets used to antibiotics, and when a person gets ill, they don’t work.

According to statistics, it is the animal farming that accounts for the use of 70% of antibiotics in the world. It shows that there is a problem. Back in 2006, the European Union refused to use antibiotics as growth promoters for birds. In the same year, Denmark banned the use of antimicrobial drugs fluoroquinolones, and in 2011 – limited the use of cephalosporins.

“As a result, Denmark managed to reduce the use of antibiotics by 50%. Farmers in Cyprus are at the bottom of the list – they use 408 mg of antibiotics per 1 kg of meat. Italians (370 mg/kg), Spanish (249 mg/kg) and German farmers (211 mg/kg) don’t use much as well,”

— said a representative of the Ukrainian Animal Husbandry Association.

A roundtable “Antimicrobial Resistance System in Animal Farming” was held in order to solve the problem of uncontrolled use of antibiotics by farmers in Ukraine. The discussion revolved around the fact that it is necessary to limit the use of antibiotics in Ukraine.

“After a comprehensive market research, the decision was taken to limit the use of antibiotics for stimulation of animal growth,”

— said Nikolay Moroz, Head of the Directorate of Food Safety and Quality of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

It is still unknown how and when the limitation will come into force and begin to operate.