In societies where meat is the main protein, vegan restaurants are not so common. — Reuters
Everybody is now probably aware that for some time, we have been living with strains of bacteria which are immune to many common antibiotics. This is not unexpected as it is one of the logical (and short-sighted) consequences of adding vast quantities of antibiotics into animal/poultry feeds. In fact, over 80% of the antibiotics produced worldwide are used in the food industry. Antibiotic resistance is simply a predictable outcome of the quest for profits in the meat and dairy industry.
So a recent study from Brazilian researchers was interesting as it attempted to analyse how certain bacteria acquire this resistance to antibiotics. Foodborne diseases have affected hundreds of thousands of people in Brazil in the last two decades, and many cases were linked to bacteria in the genus Salmonella. This is particularly intriguing as a friend in London had contracted salmonella poisoning around 20 years ago, and it was so severe he was hospitalised for six weeks. Fortunately, the antibiotics he was given eventually worked but it was sobering and traumatic to see him so ill for so long. Imagine what would have happened had it been a strain of salmonella immune to antibiotics.
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