Dr. Tanya Roberts, PhD, Chair of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention and retired Sr. Economist from Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture

Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a huge global health challenge. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified the use of antibiotics to promote growth in farm animals as contributing to the development and spread of AR bacteria that are transmitted from animals to humans. If resistant bacteria contaminate the foods that come from those animals, people who consume these foods can develop serious and sometimes life-threatening AR infections.