ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA IN HUMAN FOOD

Almost everybody has antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in stools. Wh y? 1- ARB might be normal inhabitants of human gut. However, most resi stances impose a fitness cost to their bacterial host, which leads to their elimination. 2- ARB may be selected occasionally by antibiotic r esidues present in meat or milk, by natural antimicrobials, or by merc ury released from dental fillings. 3- ARB can be provided to the gut, by contaminated foods and environment, including people and animals. W e showed that fecal ARB are eliminated from the gut of volunteers give n a sterile diet. Food is thus a major source of ARB. In addition, the animal-to-person transmission of ARB was also proven in farmers. Food s of animal origin carry ARB, notably food-borne pathogens. Usually, m eat is cooked before intake, which largely reduces the number of inges ted bacteria. Foods of vegetal origin are often consumed raw, and ofte n contain high numbers of ARB. Fermented foods, probiotics, and geneti cally engineered microorganisms or plants, may also carry resistant ge nes. Since vegetarians excrete fewer resistant gram negative bacteria than meat eaters, vegetal food seems the major provider of these ARB. The contrary can be true for vancomycin resistant enterococci that are found in meat, and in meat-eaters stools, but could not be found in v egetarians stools. A low intestinal carriage of ARB may be considered as a public health goal. I think that a decrease of food contamination by ARB is a part of the solution, with a more prudent use of antibiot ics by medical doctors and by veterinarians.