Pew: U.S. must adopt on-farm pathogen monitoring

The United States must embrace on-farm pathogen monitoring by regulators as part of its strategy to prevent foodborne illnesses, Pew Charitable Trusts argues. Scores of sickness-causing microbes - including new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria - could arise undetected unless regulators have greater access to farms and feedlots, enabling scientists to better understand how pathogens evolve, Pew says in its report. The report, which examines health safety threats in meat production, calls for several other specific changes, too, including an expansion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's antimicrobial resistance monitoring system to test farm animals and meat on store shelves. It also calls for collecting more data on antibiotics use in livestock. "Regulatory reform in particular is warranted to enable food safety agencies to monitor and address risks to the food supply beyond those occurring during slaughter or processing, in particular those originating on farms or feedlots," the report says.  Most of Pew's suggestions would greatly expand the reach of government into private agriculture businesses - a proposition that is sure to vex many livestock growers already facing the crush of low prices and a needy consumer base. But the authors of the report say that such preventative efforts could save lives down the road.