The Antibiotic criteria selected as a Game Changer

Expert judges of Food Systems Game Changers Lab reviewed approximately 500 submissions against potential impact, actionability, sustainability, and game-changing capacity through collaboration. Axfoundation and the Antibiotic criteria is one of the solutions that have advanced to the Solutions Accelerator Program and will be part of one of the 24 Solution Cohorts! Read more about the program and the other cohorts.

The Food Systems Game Changers Lab is designed by EAT, Thought for Food, The Rockefeller Foundation and other collaborators who support the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.

• Overuse of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance: Antibiotics cure bacterial diseases and are life-saving drugs for humans and animals. But bacteria can become resistant, impervious to antibiotics and so the drug does not work. Problems with antibiotic-resistant bacteria are growing quickly around the world. Antibiotic resistance can be transmitted between humans, between animals, and between animals and humans. The development of antibiotic resistance in animals is affected, among other things, by how much antibiotic is used, which in turn is affected by, among other things, animal husbandry systems.
• Antibiotic use in animals in Sweden and Europe: The use of antibiotics in animals in Sweden is low on an international level. But the difference between countries in Europe is very large. In Europe, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway have the lowest sales of antibiotics for animals (per kilogram of estimated live weight), according to the European Medicines Agency. Cyprus, Italy and Spain have the highest. In many countries, group treatment with antibiotics via feed or water is much more common than in Sweden. In addition, using antibiotics for growth promotion purposes was banned in Sweden in 1986 and within the EU in 2006. In many other countries, such use is still permitted.
• Voluntary antibiotic criteria complement the legislation: The updated voluntary antibiotic criteria that companies can use in the dialogue with suppliers of meat, dairy products and seafood go a step further than current legislation. The tool also contains an associated questionnaire with follow-up questions to suppliers, and an educational material with basic information about antibiotics in food production. The criteria are not specific to Sweden and Swedish companies, but can also be used by other countries.
• The antibiotic criteria have been developed by Axfoundation together with an expert group comprising Max Troell (Beijer Institute / Stockholm Resilience Center), Jenny Lundström (Healthy Animals/Friska Djur) and Frida Lundmark Hedman (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), and a reference group comprising representatives from the food industry, civil society, academia and authorities; Axfood, Coop, Findus, Farm and animal health (Gård & Djurhälsan), ICA, Lidl, The Swedish Food Federation, The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), , Martin & Servera, The National Veterinary Institute, (SVA), Swedish Food Retailers Federation, The National Agency for Public Procurement, Vi Konsumenter), World Animal Protection, WWF in Sweden.