Alliance believe ban will reduce antibiotic resistance

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics (ASOA) has sent a letter to the agriculture minister calling for a ban on the use of fluroquinolone antibiotics in poultry production.

It is believed that the ban will reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance in campylobacter, a bacteria that sometimes causes abortion in animals and food poisoning in humans.

The letter to Mr Heath says: "Since it is clear voluntary action by the industry has been ineffective in reducing fluroquinolone use, we now call upon you to work with the European Commissioner and other member states to introduce new legislation to prohibit the use of these critically important antibiotics in poultry production."

Soil Association Policy Advisor Richard Young, who wrote the letter on behalf of ASOA, also asked Mr Heath to ensure the antibiotics are only used in other farm animal species in strictly controlled situations.

"We recognise this could result in a small increase in the retail price of chicken, but we believe that people would be willing to pay a little more to reduce the risks to their health and help safeguard the effectiveness of such an important class of antibiotics into the future."

The alliance hopes the changes will be introduced across the EU and in all countries that export chicken into the UK, after the need for a ban was first highlighted in 2008, when a report into food-borne antimicrobial resistance as a biological hazard was published by the European Food Safety Authority.