Antibiotics in pig meat production: restrictions as the odd case and overuse as normality? Experiences from Sweden and Italy

Abstract

For people interested in high-quality food, Italy has long been acknowledged for its production of Parma ham, salami and similar pig meat-based products. For researchers in the field of antibiotic resistance, they are known as products of a highly antibiotic-dependent production system. Italy has one of the highest consumptions of antibiotics by animals in the EU, estimated to be 244 mg/PCU. By contrast, Sweden has the lowest consumption of antibiotics by animals in the EU, estimated to be 12.5 mg/PCU. Thus, the Italian level is about 20 times higher than the Swedish one. The aim of this paper is to pinpoint the role of antibiotics in the Swedish and Italian production systems. What are the underlying forces and the key features of the Swedish production system—a system that can actually compensate for routine group treatment with antibiotics through precautionary health and biosecurity? What aspects are behind the different antibiotic consumption patterns in the Italian setting? We argue that the Swedish ability to compensate for routine prophylactic antibiotic group treatment was the outcome of an extensive interaction process: ‘outsiders’ increased the general awareness of routine antibiotic use by debating it in the media, and ‘insiders’ took the debate seriously and consequently acted to develop a production system that was able to compensate for routine use of antibiotics. Based on both the Swedish and Italian experiences, we argue that a legal ban on routine group treatment does not in itself guarantee a change. Those who are supposed to adopt must first share the ideas the legislation rests on; second, they must be prepared to invest in a change of material structures; third, they must foresee a ‘fair’ distribution of costs and benefits among producers and users—that is, an economic context in which all players are incentivised to follow the same route.