Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Food Policy,Our Blog on June 28, 2026
Recent research finds that livestock manure is more than what it seems. Something ominous lurks within.
This feedlot waste product is often turned into fertilizer, allowing farms to make use of the piles of poop ranching stacks up. Additionally, a significant amount of livestock manure meets a different fate. Some are washed into the ground and into the water supply. Taking those harmful effects even further.
This manure, when properly treated to remove potentially harmful germs, may still contain something treacherous. And I am not talking about greenhouse gases.
In an international marketplace. That reach expands beyond borders. So the problem is spreading as I type.
What am I talking about?
Antibiotic resistance genes.
How does this happen? What are antibiotic resistance genes? More importantly, is there anything we can do about it?
You may be wondering, how exactly does livestock manure get antibiotic resistance genes?
That is a good question, right?
The answer goes further than the old adage, “you are what you eat.” Though that could be part of the problem.
It starts with using antibiotics in livestock. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes to treat illness. Others to prevent disease. In some cases, antibiotics are administered to promote growth.
As the antibiotics are absorbed into the animal, it can pass through their body and into their digestive system. In fact, over half of antibiotics given to livestock animals are not fully metabolized. In some cases, bacteria acquire these genes through what is called, horizontal gene transfer. The germs become resistant to the effects. This is a problem for the animal, as that treatment protocol will become less effective.
But it becomes a bigger problem for everyone when these resistant bacteria are excreted into manure.
This study, published by Chinese and US researchers, took samples gathered over 14 years. Over 4,000 samples from pigs, chickens, and cattle were obtained across the world (26 different countries).
In just that sample set of 4,017 specimens they found 2,291 known subtypes and 3,166 lesser-known subtypes. Overall, researchers found that samples contained potential resistance to 30 different antibiotic classes.
The study found chicken manure to have the most types of antibiotic resistance genes. Followed by pigs and then cows.
As for the levels found in the livestock manure, Chinese pig samples ranked highest. They found 3.93 copies of antibiotic resistance genes per cell in Asian swine samples. An amount significantly higher than the found on other continents.
One of the study authors, James Tiedje, PhD said it well. “This research shows that what happens on farms does not stay on farms.” A simple act can have far reaching effects.
Even worse, this problem can (and does) spread. “Genes from manure can make their way into the water we drink, the food we eat, and the bacteria that make us sick.” It will be all around us.
But how does this compare to human feces?
On average, the amount of antibiotic resistance genes found in livestock manure was 2.0 times more than the amount found in human feces, 2.5 times that found in sewage, and 18.3 times more than is typically found in soil.
“As the world’s largest pig producer, accounting for more than 50% of the global pig population, China displays higher bacterial abundance, diversity, and RSs [risk score] in pig manure than all other countries,” the authors wrote. “As the leading beef producers, the United States and Brazil exhibit notably higher resistome abundance and diversity in cattle manure compared to other countries, with the exception of Canada.”
Which makes matters even worse. The largest producers are the worse offenders! Meaning, they will have the most impact on the environment.
Antibiotic resistance is responsible for at least 1.27 million deaths worldwide and contributed to nearly 5 millions deaths in 2019 alone.
In the United States, more than 2.8 million antimicrobial resistant infections are diagnosed each year. More than 35,000 of those patients die from that illness.
It’s a big problem! One with a solution. Albeit, a slow acting one.
This is one of the primary reasons for a global push to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture, explains Tiedje. Other countries like Denmark and others within the Europe have actually banned growth-promoting antibiotics. Consequently, their resistance levels have improved.
If everyone made this effort, we could see change.
In addition to the medical implications of widespread antibiotic resistance, Tiedje explains that it is an environmental problem too. Even greater than other pollutants. “If these genes end up in harmful bacterium, they can directly cause deadly infections.”
It gets in our water supply. It can be used in irrigation, making it possible to spread to crops that contribute to antibiotic resistance.
The implications go on and on in a terrible web of contamination.
It is obvious that there needs to be a solution. But how do you fix a problem that spans the entire world?
You get United Nations involved. For as much as that is worth.
Worldwide, governments are being asked by the United Nations to develop action plans to combat this problem. Fortunately, the data obtained in the study can point action in the right direction.
Identifying the riskiest genes and the countries that these genes are more likely to spread can help target surveillance activities and press policy formation.
It is a work in progress. Much has been done to help the issue. But we have a whole lot farther to go.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Research Shows Livestock Manure Contains Antibiotic Resistant Genes, Creating a Global Health Threat,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)