"Superbugs" in Your Chicken? If So, Why?

Are chickens that were fed antibiotics causing millions of women to get antibiotic-resistant bladder infections?   It's not surprising that the study supporting this link is getting a lot of media attention because, according to the Food Safety News website, urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection in the human body, and chicken is the most commonly eaten meat in the U.S.  But should we believe the study? Some say yes, some say no.  If the study is valid, what can people do to keep the "bugs" out of the human body?  Happily, simple precautions listed later in this article are all that are necessary to protect yourself. 

What evidence supports the link between antibiotics fed to chickens and human bladder infections?

There are three main points here:

1) In the U.S., even healthy chickens are commonly given antibiotics to protect them from diseases they may contract because they are raised in cramped quarters.

2) According to an ABC News "Good Morning America" report broadcast on July 11, Canadian researchers at McGill University in Montreal have detected genetic similarities between the type of E.coli found in retail meat sources (specifically, chicken) and the type of E.coli in patients with recurrent bladder infections. About 85% of urinary tract infections are caused by extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC).  In the past, doctors assumed the germ came from a patient's own intestine, but now doctors are looking for other sources.

3) The Canadian researchers also found the highest level of drug-resistant E.coli in retail poultry.

What arguments dispute the study's findings?

MeatPoultry.com, the business journal for meat and poultry processors, cited veterinarians who argue that antibiotics fed to animals is probably not the cause of antibiotic-resistant bladder infections. For example, Dr. Randall Singer (DVM, Ph.D and associate professor of epidemiology in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Minnesota) points out that bacteria do not necessarily move to humans from other animals, so other sources of these infections must be considered.  Also, he says that antibiotic-resistant E.coli are common globally, so it's unlikely that they are the result of a "few antibiotics available for use in poultry in the U.S."  (However, Dr. Singer still believes that antibiotics should not be given to food animals.)

Note: No study (including the one discussed in this article) has yet proved that E.coli in chickens causes bladder infections in women. Some scientists have called drawing that conclusion from this Canadian study "a big leap" or "a huge stretch."  The Canadian researchers agree, but they believe their work provides "persuasive evidence" of a link.

Many livestock, poultry, and veterinary medical associations claim that the threat to human health from poultry production using antibiotics is negligible.  They also point out that many bacterial illnesses that are becoming resistant to the antibiotics commonly prescribed for humans have little or no connection to the types of antibiotics used in food animals. 

What can consumers do to protect themselves?

We asked a food scientist who's a member of the Shelf Life Advice Advisory Board--Dr. Catherine Cutter--to answer this question.  She and most other scientists would agree on the following advice:

1) About raw chicken: Care must be taken to avoid cross-contamination while and after handling raw chicken. It's important to wash your hands well both before and after handling.  If you go from handling raw chicken to cutting up salad ingredients with unwashed hands, you could transfer pathogens to the salad.  Likewise, cross-contamination can come from utensils and counters not sanitized and washed after they've come in contact with raw animal products. 

2) About cooked chicken:  If the chicken is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill the pathogens, it doesn't matter if they're antibiotic resistant or not. Dead pathogens can't harm the person consuming them.  For safety's sake, poultry should be cooked to at least 165°F.  (For better quality, you can cook white meat to 170°F and dark meat to 180°F.) The temperature should be checked with a meat thermometer.  No other method will prove doneness (not color of the meat, color of the juices, or texture).

Consumers who remain concerned about a possible connection between bladder infections and chickens fed antibiotics have the option of buying organic chicken or other chickens that are labeled antibiotic-free.

Richard Besser, currently ABC's medical director and formerly the acting head of the CDC,

recommends that patients who get recurrent urinary infections inform their doctor of the possible "superbug" chicken link so that they can get effective treatment, which might be stronger antibiotics.

Source(s):

foodsafetynews.com "Research Linking Chicken to Bladder Infections Gets National Attention"

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/research-linking-chicken-to-bladder-infections-gets-national-attention/

Catherine N. Cutter, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, Dept. of Food Science

abcnews.go.com "REPORT: Superbug Dangers in Chicken Linked to 8 Million At-Risk Women"

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/07/11/superbug-dangers-in-chicken-linked-to-8-million-at-risk-women/

meatpoultry.com "Industry refutes ABC chicken food-safety charges" July 11, 2012

http://www.meatpoultry.com/News/News%20Home/Food%20Safety/2012/7/Industry%20refutes%20ABC%20chicken%20food-safety%20charges.aspx