Global Perspectives on Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a priority issue in human medicine and agri-food systems, with many countries recognizing it as an important emerging threat to global public health and food security. In the past few years, a concerted global effort has attempted to bring this issue into the limelight and secure the political commitment to take action. While development of resistance is a natural phenomenon, overuse and inappropriate use of antimicrobials are important factors in rapidly exacerbating the problem. Antimicrobials, an important part of our food and agriculture production systems, are used for both therapeutic and nontherapeutic purposes. With the increasing demand for food, particularly of animal origin, to meet the demands of a growing global population, antimicrobial use in the food and agriculture sector is expected to rise substantially in some parts of the world. Meeting the dual challenge of protecting the efficacy of antimicrobials while still producing adequate safe food is a major task facing the food and agriculture sector. This paper explores some of the issues around AMR in the food and agriculture sectors, with a particular focus on AMR in aspects of food and food safety along the food chain.