Survey of antimicrobial resistance in the food supply

To mark the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, the federal government announced it has begun a nationwide surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Australia’s food supply as part of its strategy to protect Australians against the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Research about how antimicrobial resistance spreads in Australia is ongoing and new information is continuing to emerge. However, significant gaps remain in Australian data with one such gap being data about AMR and the national food supply.

Supporting Australia’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy – 2020 and beyond, this latest national surveillance of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in retail food is the first since 2007. It will help to gauge the scale of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in select retail foods, while also identifying emerging threats to our medicine cabinet of antimicrobials.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand, together with state and territory regulators, began sampling retail beef, pork and poultry products in September 2022 and this will continue until mid-2023. Murdoch University then works with Symbio Laboratories to isolate bacteria from these commodities and will subject bacteria to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Whole genome sequencing of selected bacteria will also be performed to detect genetic antimicrobial resistance determinants.

Food sits at the interface between humans, animals and the environment. It is considered an important driver of AMR because it can spread resistant bacteria to humans. Foodborne illness can also be caused by some bacteria, and there are concerns that antibiotic-resistant foodborne infections may become more common and increase the risk of severe illness and death, particularly for the most vulnerable in our community.

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney MP, said, “This is about reducing the risk of people being sicker for longer, the pressure that creates on our health system and the increased risk of dying from an infection that has tragically turned untreatable.

“We know this is becoming an increasing global problem, with antibiotics losing their effectiveness and new solutions not being developed fast enough. This is a part of the puzzle to ensure we’re prepared to protect the health of Australians now and into the future.” 

More information is available here.

Image credit: iStock.com/AlexRaths