Chemicals that destroy or prevent growth of microorganisms including bacteria, molds, and fungi. Natural or synthetic compounds are used extensively as antibiotics to treat infectious diseases in animals and plants as well as in humans. Sulfanilamides, penicillins, and erythromycins are examples of major families of these drugs. Antibiotics impact human health in several ways. The prolonged use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in treating disease drastically alters the intestinal microflora by destroying beneficial bacteria. The loss of beneficial bacteria can permit less desirable, opportunistic microorganisms like yeast to flourish, cause intestinal inflammation, and decrease production of nutrients important in maintaining health of the colon. Antibiotics can affect specific vitamin requirements; chloramphenicol blocks riboflavin and vitamin B₆ and B₁₂, for example. Penicillin increases potassium requirements. Antibiotics can decrease nutrient absorption in general by altering the intestinal lining. Neomycin interferes with the uptake of fat, amino acids, carbohydrate, water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins, calcium, iron, and vitamin K. Tetracycline decreases absorption of fat, amino acids, calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, while increasing the rate of urinary excretion of riboflavin, folic acid, and vitamin C.

Antibiotics can have a direct impact on the food supply. Half the antibiotics produced in the United States are applied to livestock. The benefits are more rapid growth and healthier animals. On the other hand the potential exists for generating drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria and persistent antibiotic residues in meat and dairy products. The application of antibiotics in animal husbandry and the permissible levels of antibiotic residues in animal products are regulated by the U.S. FDA. The following examples illustrate the dimensions of this food safety issue.

Chloramphenicol

This drug can cause anemia in humans due to damage to bone marrow. Though banned from use with food-producing animals, periodic spot inspections showed it was widely used in cattle and hogs in the 1980s. The degree to which chloramphenicol continues to contaminate meat through illegal application, and the degree to which such a contamination affects health, are unknown.

Penicillin

This common antibiotic is used to treat dairy herds, among others. The allowable penicillin level in milk is 0.01 units per milliliter (about 20 drops) of milk, but spot checks have found 10 times this level in commercial milk. Such high levels can cause allergic reactions in susceptible individuals.

Sulfamethazine

This sulfa drug is a widespread contaminant in meat, poultry, and milk. One-fourth of milk sampled in the late 1980s was contaminated, despite the U.S. FDA ban on this drug in milk. Sulfamethazine is suspected of being a carcinogen. (See also acidophilus; meat contaminants; pesticides.)

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