California Tries to Ban Routine Antibiotics

California is also getting into the act with their version of a bill to ban routine non-therapeutic antibiotic use on farms, says a Capital Press article.

Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) introduced SB416 that would prohibit the use of routine antibiotics in California livestock by 2015.

Industry representatives defended antibiotic use at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture on March 17. Committee chairman Florez referred to reports that say 70% of farm-related antibiotic use is non-therapeutic.

Industry reps disagreed with that number but were unable to come up with an estimate of how many tons per year of antibiotics were used.