Opinion: FDA needs to follow through on its plan to ban carbadox in animal feed
An antibiotic known as carbadox can damage genes and cause cancer. The European Union, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have banned its use for years. So why does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allow pork producers to keep using it?
Carbadox is fed to more than half of the pigs raised in the U.S. for food. It promotes growth and controls gut infections. But it poses significant safety risks to consumers who unknowingly consume carbadox residues when eating pork. It can also harm farm workers who are exposed to the drug when mixing feed or working in buildings where carbadox is used.
