The Microbe (Sep 2024)

Impact of antibiotic usage in food-producing animals on food safety and possible antibiotic alternatives

  • Kuljinder Kaur,
  • Surinder Singh,
  • Rajwinder Kaur

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4
p. 100097

Abstract

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The increasing use of antibiotics in food animal production systems has contributed to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant zoonotic bacteria that are transmissible to humans via the food chain. Infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria has a negative effect on public health due to the increasing frequency of treatment failure and severity of disease. The development of resistant bacteria in food animals can come through chromosomal changes, but is more frequently related with the horizontal transmission of resistance determinants carried by mobile genetic elements. Food may constitute a dynamic habitat for the continued transfer of antibiotic resistance determinants among bacteria.Existing food preservation strategies that rely on a combination of environmental factors to inhibit bacterial growth may exacerbate the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among food-borne pathogens, resulting in treatment failure, increased mortality as well as increased treatment costs, decreased infection control efficacy, and the spread of resistant infections in the community.The rise of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms has made the rising use of antibiotics a global concern. Food-producing animals are regarded reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and residual antibiotics that travel from the farm to the consumer's plate.Antibiotic resistance can develop in bacteria if leftover antibiotics are allowed to build up in the environment. Consequently, the possible impact of antibiotic usage in food-producing animals on food safety, as well as the risk of carrying and spreading antibiotic resistance through the food chain, is assessed in this review.This review also provides an in-depth analysis of possible antibiotic alternatives, including natural antibiotics, nano-antibiotics, lactic acid bacteria, bacteriocin, cyclopeptide, bacteriophage, synthetic biology, and predatory bacteria.

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