The use of antibiotics in animal feed is for the purpose of making the animals grow faster and more efficiently. Ranchers think that by placing antibiotics in the food of their animals that the antibiotics will kill off unwanted bacteria and allow more of the food consumed to be converted into meat. This has been going on since 1946 on the ranches around the world. In the US, the CDC has estimated that 50 million pounds of antibiotics are produced every year. About 40% of that is used on livestock, mostly for growth production. …
