Assessing the difference in contamination of retail meat with multidrug-resistant bacteria using for-consumer package label claims that indicate on-farm antibiotic use practices— united states, 2016–2019

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Antibiotic use in food-producing animals can select for antibiotic resistance in bacteria that can be transmitted to people through contamination of food products during

meat processing. Contamination resulting in foodborne illness contributes to adverse health outcomes. Some livestock producers have implemented antibiotic use reduction strategies marketed

to consumers on regulated retail meat packaging labels (“label claims”). OBJECTIVE We investigated whether retail meat label claims were associated with isolation of multidrug-resistant

organisms (MDROs, resistant to ≥3 classes of antibiotics) from U.S. meat samples. METHODS We utilized retail meat data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration National Antimicrobial

Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) collected during 2016–2019 for bacterial contamination of chicken breast, ground turkey, ground beef, and pork chops. We used modified Poisson regression

models to compare the prevalence of MDRO contamination among meat samples with any antibiotic restriction label claims versus those without such claims (i.e., conventionally produced).

RESULTS In NARMS, 62,338 meat samples were evaluated for bacterial growth from 2016–2019. Of these, 24,446 (39%) samples had label claims that indicated antibiotic use was restricted during

animal production. MDROs were isolated from 2252 (4%) meat samples, of which 71% (_n_ = 1591) were conventionally produced, and 29% (_n_ = 661) had antibiotic restriction label claims.

Compared with conventional samples, meat with antibiotic restriction label claims had a statistically lower prevalence of MDROs (adjusted prevalence ratio: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.73). This

relationship was consistent for the outcome of any bacterial growth. IMPACT * This repeated cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative retail meat surveillance database in the

United States supports that retail meats labeled with antibiotic restriction claims were less likely to be contaminated with MDROs compared with retail meat without such claims during

2016–2019. * These findings indicate the potential for the public to become exposed to bacterial pathogens via retail meat and emphasizes a possibility that consumers could reduce their

exposure to environmental reservoirs of foodborne pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content,

access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 6 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $43.17 per issue Learn

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OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS DISTANCE AND DESTINATION OF RETAIL MEAT ALTER

MULTIDRUG RESISTANT CONTAMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES FOOD SYSTEM Article Open access 29 November 2023 ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANT BACTERIA RECOVERED FROM RETAIL GROUND MEAT PRODUCTS IN THE US

INCLUDE A _RAOULTELLA ORNITHINOLYTICA_ CO-HARBORING _BLA_KPC-2 AND _BLA_NDM-5 Article Open access 07 July 2021 ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES CORRELATE WITH ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF _SALMONELLA

TYPHIMURIUM_ ISOLATED FROM EDIBLE CHICKEN MEAT Article Open access 30 April 2025 DATA AVAILABILITY The data used in this study are publicly available via the National Antimicrobial

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2022;376:130–2. Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System and all who worked to collect these data

and make them available to the public. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Alison G. Abraham for her invaluable contribution upon which some of this work was built. FUNDING The authors

acknowledge the following funding sources: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI130066; GSS, JAC, KEN, MFD, SYT). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA G. Sean Stapleton, Keeve E. Nachman & Meghan F. Davis * Center for

Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA G. Sean Stapleton & Keeve E. Nachman * Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture, Yuma, AZ,

USA Gabriel K. Innes * Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA Keeve E. Nachman * Department of Environmental and

Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA Joan A. Casey * Geospatial Analysis Lab, University of San Francisco, Harney Science Center,

San Francisco, CA, USA Andrew N. Patton * Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA Lance B. Price * Department of Research &

Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA Sara Y. Tartof * Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena,

CA, USA Sara Y. Tartof * Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology & Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA Meghan F. Davis

Authors * G. Sean Stapleton View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Gabriel K. Innes View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Keeve E. Nachman View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Joan A. Casey View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Andrew N. Patton View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Lance B. Price View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sara Y. Tartof View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Meghan F.

Davis View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS All authors contributed to conceptualization, data analysis and interpretation, and

writing and revising this manuscript. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to G. Sean Stapleton. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. ETHICAL

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G.K., Nachman, K.E. _et al._ Assessing the difference in contamination of retail meat with multidrug-resistant bacteria using for-consumer package label claims that indicate on-farm

antibiotic use practices— United States, 2016–2019. _J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol_ 34, 917–926 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00649-y Download citation * Received: 29 May 2023 *

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Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * Retail meat * Label claims * Antimicrobial resistance * Foodborne bacteria