The ongoing debate regarding antibiotics use with animals destined for the table has centered on whether drug-resistant organisms created on farms travel from the farm to humans. According to a newly published study, they do.

Researchers from the Center of Food Microbiology and Environmental Health at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Flagstaff, Arizona, found one in four packages of meat and poultry purchased contained multi-drug resistant staph.

 This is the first such study of drug-resistant staph in the U.S. food supply. The researchers say it remains unknown whether humans can be infected from raw meat.

Meat producers reportedly provide healthy animals with low doses of antibiotics for several reasons. The two leading rationales are to promote young animals’ growth and to reduce the spread of infections in factory farm operations.

The researchers purchased packaged meats -- 136 packages of ground beef, chicken breasts and thighs, pork chops and ground pork, and ground turkey -- in five U.S. cities. Of the meat samples tested, 47% were contaminated with Staphylococccus aureus. Of those, more than half were resistant to three or more antibiotics.

Representatives from the turkey and pork producers contend their products are safe. “Staphylococcus aureus is a very common bacteria found in the environment, and is one of the most common found on human hands. It rarely causes any health problems,” says Hilary Thesmar, director of scientific and regulatory affairs for the National Turkey Federation in Washington, D.C., in a statement reprinted by WebMD.

 “Contamination by human hands is a likely source of contamination of the products in this study,” Thesmar says. “The most important message for consumers is to follow proper food safety methods, such as washing your hands and cooking meat and poultry thoroughly. Following good food safety practices will ensure that consumers continue to enjoy safe, high-quality, and nutritious turkey products.”

 Even so, there is no conclusive data showing these measures will curb or prevent the spread of staph. These forms of staph live on the skin and can continue to live there without causing illness for an unpredictable amount of time. The risk of contamination has not been studied.

 Antibiotic resistance’s cost to medicine in the U.S. has exceeded the $1 billion mark, according to The Los Angeles Times. Among the most egregious contributors to this is the predominance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a dangerous antibiotic-resistant infectious disease.

 Although there is a system in place in the U.S. that looks for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it does not look for MRSA. Even so, testing food for MRSA would not have found the various multi-drug resistant strains revealed in this latest study because they were not MRSA.

From the April 28, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.