Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications for the Food System

Abstract

The safety of food worldwide remains challenged by the potential for emergence of new pathogens and re‐emergence of known pathogens. Microorganisms have an inherent ability to evolve—to mutate and adapt to environmental stressors—allowing them to survive otherwise lethal conditions. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT),1 the 22000‐member nonprofit scientific and educational society, convened a panel of internationally renowned experts to address the concern that the use of antimicrobials in food production, manufacturing, and elsewhere may lead to the emergence of foodborne pathogens that are resistant to antimicrobials, thus compromising the ability to subsequently control them, whether in production agriculture, food processing, or human medicine. The outcome of the panel's deliberations is presented in this Expert Report. IFT's objective for this Expert Report is to increase the understanding—among IFT members, senior policy officials, and other interested groups—of the state of the science on the public health impact of the use of antimicrobials in the food system, and development and control of antimicrobial resistance. This report is the fourth Expert Report produced by IFT.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Isolated from Short Mackerels (Rastrelliger brachysoma) in Malaysia

“…Based on these findings, resistant to penicillin and ampicillin could be probably due to extensively used of antibiotics in aquaculture and the impact of antimicrobial residues in aquatic systems. It is also likely due to the complexity of the Gram-negative bacteria outer membrane which inhibits antibiotic compounds to pass through the outer membrane (IFT, 2006; Blair et al, 2014). Penicillin and ampicillin are therefore ineffective for the treatment of V. parahaemolyticus infections.…”

The incidence of antibiotic resistance within and beyond the agricultural ecosystem: A concern for public health

“…It could also occur through the acquisition of mobile extrachromosomal DNA elements including transposons, integrons, and plasmids instead of mutation. The acquisition of the genes that code for Beta-lactamase (the enzyme responsible for the cleavage of Beta-lactam antibiotics, such as cephalosporins and penicillins), is an example of acquired resistance (Doyle et al, 2006). Transformation happens when bacteria pick up free DNA containing the resistance genes from the environment; transduction occurs when DNA carrying the resistance genes is transferred via bacteriophages, which are viruses that affect bacteria; and conjugation takes place when the genes are transferred via conjugative pili (Roca et al, 2015).…”

Evaluation of therapeutic potentials of plant extracts against poultry bacteria threatening public health

“…The inherent utility and practical applications of plant extracts such as garlic, cinnamon, tulsi, ginger, turmeric, lemon, neem, yucca, thyme and rosemary have been explored for improving poultry health as well as production with fruitful results [17, 18]. Though, it has been reported that some plant based chemotherapeutic agents may be ineffective on emerging resistant bacterial strains [19, 20], therefore, further work still needs to be done to search for more effective plant based chemotherapeutic agents especially for poultry chicken management.…”