The agency is recommending producers use drugs only when medically necessary and under a veterinarian's supervision. The F.D.A. says antibiotics in meat pose a "serious public health threat" because it creates drug-resistant bacteria that can infect humans.
Antibiotics have been given to animals for more than 50 years. The F.D.A. acknowledges the practice has had "tremendous benefits" to animal and human health. The agency says it's concerned when producers use antibiotics on healthy animals to speed growth and reduce feed costs.
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A new study says American farmers are producing more food than ever but agricultural research is too focused on production.
The report was released Tuesday by the National Academies' National Research Council. The group says U.S. farmers grow 158-percent more food than they did 50-years ago. But they say research is too focused on clearing hurdles to greater production.
The report calls for a broader approach to research that spends more time and money on trying to figure out what kind of problems are caused by heavy production.
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The onion industry knows it can be hard for parents to get their kids to eat onions or any kind of vegetables. But there's a new green giant who's motive is buried under a lot of layers.
Onions don't have it easy. They smell funny. They make you cry. The natural born enemy of many vegetable-phobic kids.
Wendy Brannen with the Vidalia Onion Committee: "You know if you're a banana or a strawberry or a blueberry that kids actually eat readily it's not so hard to market to them. But if you're onion, what do you do?"
If you are the Vidalia Onion Committee, you call in a secret weapon: Shrek.
"I wanted to tie our onions to something that kids would relate to but parents would actually still purchase."
They launched a national marketing campaign tied in with the new Shrek movie. But what do onions and Ogres have in common?
Shrek says, "Onions have layers -- ogres have layers."
The committee estimates that sales of Vidalia onions are up 50 percent this year! Can one monster make that much of a difference?
There is some precedent. Popeye helped boost spinach sales more than 30 percent in the 1930's.
ABC's John Berman contributed to this report.
