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| Antibiotic-Free Pigs More Likely to Carry Bacteria, Parasites |
As interest in organic and natural foods has increased, the demand for pork produced without antibiotics has grown. But a recent study has found that more of the pigs raised in such conditions carry bacteria and parasites associated with foodborne illnesses.
A comparison of swine raised in antibiotic-free and conventional pork production settings found that those raised outdoors without antibiotics had higher rates of three foodborne pathogens than did pigs on conventional farms, which remain indoors and receive preventive doses of antimicrobial drugs.
“Animal-friendly, outdoor farms tend to have a higher occurrence of Salmonella, as well as higher rates of parasitic disease,” says lead study author Wondwossen Gebreyes, DVM, PhD, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine at Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio). The study was published in a recent issue of Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.
More than half of the antibiotic-free pigs tested positive for Salmonella, compared to 39% of conventionally raised pigs infected with the bacterial pathogen. The presence of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite was detected in 6.8% of antibiotic-free pigs, compared to 1.1% of conventionally raised pigs. And two naturally raised pigs of the total 616 sampled tested positive for Trichinella spiralis, a parasite considered virtually eradicated from conventional U.S. pork operations. |
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