Antibiotic use in food animals is not a black‐and‐white issue. It is a complex issue that is all
too frequently over simplified by both critics and proponents.
• Misunderstanding that a concern is not equivalent to risk.
• The disconnect between consumers and agriculture (and those in agriculture), with most
consumers being at least three generations removed from the farm.
• Activist messaging, the media and the Internet are often inaccurate and misleading
regarding antibiotic use, and in particular antibiotic resistance and its relationship to use, in
food‐animal production.