Wednesday, July 1, 2009

CA Antibiotic Bill Hearing Today

Florez's Antibiotic Bill Up For Hearing Wednesday Before Assembly Ag Committee

Sen. Dean Florez's (D-Shafter) latest attempt to limit the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. will be heard Wednesday before the Assembly Agriculture Committee.


Florez has turned to a tried and true tactic known as "gut and amend" whereby he took an existing bill, SB 562 that dealt with the citrus industry, and amended it so that it now mandates a warning on the label of any animal product derived from an animal that was administered a non-therapeutic dosage of an antibiotic. Many legislative observers believe that this new attempt at antibiotic labeling faces a rough road ahead as federal labeling laws preempt any attempts by state governments to label products.


The Assembly Ag Committee hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1 in Room 126 of the Capitol. Link


Sen. Dean Florez is still trying to limit the ability of animal agriculture to keep their livestock healthy in California. Antibiotics are a great tool that is used to ensure our livestock don’t suffer needlessly through a preventable disease. Remember the saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Apparently Florez would rather see us use the pound of cure. Seems like a strange way to reduce antibiotic use.

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