Antibiotics concerns ooze into ethanol process

Des Moines Register
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com • May 30, 2010

Washington, D.C. - The worries about antibiotic resistance and the rise of superbugs have reached into the ethanol industry.

Ethanol producers have long used antibiotics to control bacteria that can contaminate the fermentation process. But now, the Food and Drug Administration is developing a policy to regulate the use of the drugs and is conducting tests in Iowa and nationwide to determine the extent to which the antibiotics are getting into livestock feed produced by the plants.

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