15 March is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), each year, the Consumers International (CI) highlights an issue that is important to consumers around the world and set an annual theme for consumer organizations worldwide to work together to promote the issue. This year, CI announces the theme as ‘Antibiotics off the menu’, and consumer organizations from different places, including Macao Consumer Council, will join together to call on international fast food companies to stop serving meat from animals routinely given antibiotics used in human medicine. Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that, without urgent action, human beings are heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which important medicines stop working and common infections and minor injuries can once again kill. Growing antibiotic resistance is driven by over use of antibiotics. Around half of the antibiotics produced globally are used in agriculture, with much of this being used to promote faster growth and to prevent, rather than treat, disease. Despite worldwide concern about the overuse of antibiotics, their use in agriculture is due to increase by two thirds by 2030: from 63,200 tons in 2010, to 105,600 tons in 2030. To solve this global health problem, and to protect medicines for humans in the future, a Recommendations document was published by CI in March 2014, listing out measures which can be taken by countries to reduce global consumption of antibiotics in agriculture, and the fact that restaurant chains can use their massive global purchasing power to affect faster change than government action alone by simply refraining globally from using any meat that has been produced from animals administered with antibiotics for growth promotion. Macao Consumer Council is an official member of the CI, and in response to CI’s appeal, the Council has already forwarded the abovementioned information on antibiotics to the relevant government departments, including Health Bureau (SSM), Civic And Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), and Macao Government Tourist Office (DST). Further, the Council will work together with IACM’s Food Safety Centre to hold talks on topics such as veterinary drug residues and food safety law, etc. for ‘Certified Shops’ in food and beverage industry. For enquiry, please call 89889315.
