The British Poultry Council (BPC) has highlighted the achievements made by the poultry meat sector in a new report.
According to the 2018 Antibiotic Stewardship Report, the sector’s focus on excellence in bird health and welfare has led to an 82% reduction in the use of antibiotics over the last six years.
The results also revealed that in 2016/17 alone, there was a drop of almost 40 per cent in the total use of antibiotics.
BPC chairman, John Reed, said: “Poultry is half of the meat eaten in the UK and we use less than 9.7% of the total antibiotics licensed for food producing animals.
“We have successfully reduced our antibiotic use by 82% in the last six years and have stopped all preventative treatments as well as the use of Colistin. The highest priority antibiotics that are critically important for humans are used only as a ‘last resort’.
“We stand committed to ensuring that antibiotic therapies are used with good animal husbandry techniques, ‘only when necessary’, and under the direction of a veterinarian, to protect the health and welfare of birds under our care.”
The report, released this week, also revealed a reduction of more than 90% in the use of Fluoroquinolones, a type of antibiotic, in the last six years.
Commenting on the figures, the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss said: “The achievements made by members of the BPC are remarkable.
“The dedication and determination of BPC’s members to deliver responsible reductions in the use of antibiotics will help to protect and preserve the efficacy of antibiotics going forward.”
The full report is available to read here
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
