Feds look at use of antibiotics at ethanol plants

An already struggling ethanol industry could be dealt another blow over its use of antibiotics to prevent bacteria from ruining batches of the product. The grain used in distillation is sold to farmers as cheap feed for their cattle, and as fears over antibiotic-resistant bacteria rise there is concern about that "super-bugs" could spread and that the antibiotics could enter the human food chain.

"Ethanol producers use penicillin and a popular antibiotic called virginiamycin to kill bacteria," reports Mark Steil of Minnesota Public Radio. And some of the concerns over the use of those antibiotics appear to be valid. Mark von Keitz, with the University of Minnesota's Biotechnology Institute, discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria at four midwest ethanol plants several years ago. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken a mostly a hands-off approach to the use of antibiotics in the ethanol industry," adds Steil. "But amid increasing concerns over food safety in recent years, the agency is taking a closer look." If the federal government decides to limit or stop the sale of distilled grain, it would hurt both the ethanol and livestock industries. (Read more)