Antibiotics in food production have come under great scrutiny. This symposium will look at different elements impacting food safety risks in the production chain and the role antibiotics play. Presenting different topics from multiple markets provides an overall understanding of the various elements involved in pre-harvest that impact food safety. Each topic will be presented by a different commodity group allowing visibility of problems and solutions across animal protein production. Topics will help demonstrate the impact of antibiotic removal, layered programs to reduce risks, and the necessity of research as a part of a complete pre-harvest food production system. The discussion will demonstrate the need to balance risks in production systems, some examples being: output, zoonotic disease, antimicrobial resistance, disease detection, microbial loads, and residues. Topics are: 1) What changes, if any, are seen in food products when antibiotics are removed from production in the poultry industry; 2) How antibiotic programs in production are reducing risk in the swine industry; and 3) The importance of data based decisions to make changes in production systems, like the beef industry, with longer life cycles.

Presentations