The US government has been slow to respond to the health threat posed by the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock. But consumer concern about antibiotic resistance is growing, and that’s leading some US companies to start changing their ways.
More than three-quarters of all egg-laying hens in Germany are kept in cages. The government recently declared the farming practice in violation of animal protection laws and decided to ban all hen cages by 2012. Mike Mühlberger reports that many farmers fear the new law will harm their ability to make a living.