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# Sales of Food Animal Antimicrobial Drugs Down: Gottlieb
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/sales-of-food-animal-antimicrobial-drugs-down-gottlieb/
- Published: 2019-01-02T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T00:51:28.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5143063

FDA commissioner **Scott Gottlieb** says a decline in the sales/distribution of antimicrobial drugs for food animals is “a reflection of improved antimicrobial stewardship.” Commenting on the agency’s 2017 [Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals](https://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForIndustry/UserFees/AnimalDrugUserFeeActADUFA/UCM628538.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com), Gottlieb [says](https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm628737.htm?ref=fdaweb.com) it shows a 33% decline between 2016 and 2017 in domestic sales and distribution of all medically important antimicrobials intended for use in food-producing animals. The report also shows a 41% decline since 2015, the peak year of sales/distribution since FDA began issuing the animal reports, he says, and a decline of 28% since the first sales report that summarized the sales/distribution data for 2009.

“These reductions are an indication that our ongoing efforts to support antimicrobial stewardship are having a significant impact,” he says.

According to the commissioner, it is important to recognize that the 2017 report is the first to include sales/distribution data submitted after all medically important antimicrobial drugs administered to food-producing animals in their feed or water were no longer allowed to be used for growth promotion and could only be obtained through a veterinarian’s order. The change was a result of a guidance that gave industry recommendations on how to eliminate production uses of medically important antimicrobials in the feed and drinking water of food-producing animals. It also explained the importance of bringing the remaining therapeutic uses of the drugs under veterinary oversight, he writes

The report says that tetracyclines, which represent the largest volume of domestic sales, decreased by 40% from 2016 through 2017.

Of the 2017 domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials approved for use in food-producing animals, tetracyclines accounted for 64%, penicillins for 12%, macrolides for 8%, sulfas for 5%, aminoglycosides for 5%, lincosamides for 3%, and cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones each for less than 1%.

An estimated 42% was intended for use in cattle, an estimated 36% intended for use in swine, an estimated 12% intended for use in turkeys, an estimated 5% intended for use in chickens, and an estimated 5% intended for use in other species/unknown.