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Background: During food animal production, animals are exposed to, colonized by, and sometimes infected with bacteria that may contaminate animal products with susceptible and multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO). The United States’ Organic Foods Production Act resulted in decreased antibiotic use in some animal production operations. Some studies have reported that decreased antibiotic use is associated with reduced MDRO on meat. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate associations of meat production and processing methods with MDRO and overall bacterial contamination of retail meats. Methods: Bacterial contamination data from 2012 to 2017 for chicken breast, ground beef, ground turkey, and pork chops were downloaded from the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to estimate associations with MDRO contamination and any contamination (adjusted for year and meat type) overall, and according to bacteria genus (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli) and meat type. Results: A total of 39,349 retail meat samples were linked to 216 conventional, 123 split (conventional and organic), and three organic processing facilities. MDRO contamination was similar in conventionally produced meats processed at split vs. conventional facilities but was significantly lower in organically produced meats processed at split facilities [adjusted prevalance ratio (aPR)=0.43; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.63]. Meat processed by split vs. conventional processors had higher or similar MDRO contamination for all tested bacterial genera except Campylobacter (aPR=0.29; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.64). The prevalence of any contamination was lower in samples processed at split vs. conventional facilities for aggregated samples (aPR=0.70; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.73) and all meat types and bacterial genera. Discussion: Organically produced and processed retail meat samples had a significantly lower prevalence of MDRO than conventionally produced and processed samples had, whereas meat from split processors had a lower prevalence of any contamination than samples from conventional processors had. Additional studies are needed to confirm findings and clarify specific production and processing practices that might explain them. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7327

Background Industrial food animal production employs many of the same antibiotics or classes of antibiotics that are used in human medicine. These drugs can be administered to food animals in the form of free-choice medicated feeds (FCMF), where animals choose how much feed to consume. Routine administration of these drugs to livestock selects for microorganisms that are resistant to medications critical to the treatment of clinical infections in humans. Objectives In this commentary, we discuss the history of medicated feeds, the nature of FCMF use with regard to dose delivery, and U.S. policies that address antimicrobial drug use in food animals. Discussion FCMF makes delivering a predictable, accurate, and intended dose difficult. Overdosing can lead to animal toxicity; underdosing or inconsistent dosing can result in a failure to resolve animal diseases and in the development of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms. Conclusions The delivery of antibiotics to food animals for reasons other than the treatment of clinically diagnosed disease, especially via free-choice feeding methods, should be reconsidered.

Objective In this review we highlight the need to expand the scope of environmental health research, which now focuses largely on the study of toxicants, to incorporate infectious agents. We provide evidence that environmental health research would be strengthened through finding common ground with the tools and approaches of infectious disease research. Data sources and extraction We conducted a literature review for examples of interactions between toxic agents and infectious diseases, as well as the role of these interactions as risk factors in classic “environmental” diseases. We investigated existing funding sources and research mandates in the United States from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, particularly the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Data synthesis We adapted the toxicological paradigm to guide reintegration of infectious disease into environmental health research and to identify common ground between these two fields as well as opportunities for improving public health through interdisciplinary research. Conclusions Environmental health encompasses complex disease processes, many of which involve interactions among multiple risk factors, including toxicant exposures, pathogens, and susceptibility. Funding and program mandates for environmental health studies should be expanded to include pathogens in order to capture the true scope of these overlapping risks, thus creating more effective research investments with greater relevance to the complexity of real-world exposures and multifactorial health outcomes. We propose a new model that integrates the toxicology and infectious disease paradigms to facilitate improved collaboration and communication by providing a framework for interdisciplinary research. Pathogens should be part of environmental health research planning and funding allocation, as well as applications such as surveillance and policy development.