The British Poultry Council (BPC) has revealed its 2017 Antibiotic Stewardship Report, which found that 2016 was a year of ‘enormous’ progress for the UK poultry meat sector in its drive to ensure sustainable use of antibiotics.
According to the report, over the period of 2012 to 2016, the industry reduced its use of antibiotics by weight by 71%, or 23.72% tonnes in 2016. Across the same period, poultry meat production has increased by 11%, or 1.79 million tonnes in 2016.
Among other achievements, the report also notes that the British poultry meat sector stopped the prophylactic use of antibiotics, stopped the use of Colistin, while agree on new antibiotic standards for Red Tractor Poultry Assurance that will come into force in October 2017.
In addition, BPC reiterated its commitment to Clinical Governance and “knowing how and why we use antibiotics”, with chairman John Reed commenting: “Our farmers and veterinarians need antibiotics in their toolbox to treat sick birds – zero use is not an option – and we will protect the health and welfare of our birds.
“We will safeguard the efficacy of antibiotics as part of sustainable food production, and we will continue to feed the nation.”
The report added that the next challenge for the sector is examining the link between antibiotic use and resistance in the poultry production chain.
BPC Antibiotic Stewardship was established in 2011, bringing together expertise from producers and poultry veterinarians.
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.
