After years of trying, the Food and Drug Administration is again seeking to withdraw approval of an antibiotic that is widely used by farmers to control diarrhea in their pigs, but has generated controversy over links to cancer.
At issue is carbadox, which, since the 1970s, has been added to livestock feed to combat diarrhea in young pigs after they are weaned from their mothers, as well as to promote growth. But evidence suggests the antibiotic is a carcinogen that can cause tumors in lab animals, which has raised concerns that harmful traces of the medicine can find their way into humans through the food supply.
The FDA previously moved to withdraw approval of the antibiotic in 2016 over carcinogenicity, but the manufacturer, Phibro Animal Health, fought the effort by arguing, in part, that its drug is medically necessary. In addition to once again attempting to withdraw approval, the agency is also saying there is no reliable method for determining how much drug residue may be found in the tissue of pigs and hogs, according to a pair of Federal Register notices (see this and this).
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