| McDonald's Corporation, one of the largest buyers of meat in the U.S. fast-food industry, recently adopted a policy that prohibits its direct suppliers from using medically important antibiotics as growth promotants in food animals after 2004. Although the implications of such a voluntary ban in the United States remain to be seen, recent experiences in Denmark provide some comparable evidence on the effects for hog production. An economic analysis, compiled from information gleaned from interviews with Danish veterinarians, farmers, economists, and industry analysts, estimates the economic costs of an antibiotics ban on pork producers in the United States. Denmark first imposed a ban in pork production at the finishing stage, which was considered a... |
