Where antibiotics go

Source: A. Hollis and Z. Ahmed/NEJM 2013; Chicken: pinare/ShutterStock; other Icons: E. Otwell

Of the 51 tons of antibiotics consumed every day in the United States, about 80 percent goes into animal production (above). The widespread use of antibiotics in livestock may be contributing to growing resistance to the drugs by bacteria such as Salmonella (below). In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration enacted a voluntary program phasing out antibiotics used to make livestock grow bigger.

U.S. CDC