Cargill stops using human antibiotic to prevent disease in turkeys

Chicago

US meat processor Cargill Inc has stopped using an important antibiotic for people to prevent disease in most of its turkeys, the company said on Tuesday, the latest food maker to drop the drug over concerns about the impact on human medicine.

Cargill has not used the drug, gentamicin, to prevent disease in turkeys that supply its two biggest brands, Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms, since Aug 1, the company said. Gentamicin was the only antibiotic Cargill used to prevent disease in turkeys, and by eliminating it from the brands, 50 million birds will be affected. The company did not remove the drug from its smaller turkey brands because they are produced to meet customers' specifications, a spokesman said.