Half of chicken breasts test positive for ‘superbug’ bacteria in US trial
The Consumer Reports group is calling for stricter limits on medicines used on livestock. It could be more difficult to treat people if they became ill after eating chicken with the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, argues the group which describes itself as the world’s largest independent product-testing organisation.
It tested for six types of bacteria in 316 raw chicken breasts purchased from retailers nationwide in July. Almost all contained potentially harmful bacteria, it said. Some 49.7% carried a bacterium resistant to three or more antibiotics, and 11% had two types of bacteria resistant to multiple drugs. Resistance was most common for the antibiotics used for growth promotion and disease treatment of poultry, the group said.
