Emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens from farm to table

Abstract

Antibiotics have been overused and misused for preventive and therapeutic purposes. Specifically, antibiotics are frequently used as growth promoters for improving productivity and performance of food-producing animals such as pigs, cattle, and poultry. The increasing use of antibiotics has been of great concern worldwide due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Food-producing animals are considered reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and residual antibiotics that transfer from the farm through the table. The accumulation of residual antibiotics can lead to additional antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Therefore, this review evaluates the risk of carriage and spread of antibiotic resistance through food chain and the potential impact of antibiotic use in food-producing animals on food safety. This review also includes in-depth discussion of promising antibiotic alternatives such as vaccines, immune modulators, phytochemicals, antimicrobial peptides, probiotics, and bacteriophages.

Keywords: Antibiotic alternative; Antibiotic resistance; Farm-to-table; Food safety; Food-producing animal; Residual antibiotic.

Fig. 1

Schematic illustration of antibiotic resistance mechanisms in bacteria, including A alteration of membrane permeability (mutated lipoteichoic acid [LTA], mutated porin channel, and lipocalin), B modification of antibiotic target sites (mutated penicillin-binding proteins [PBPs] and modified peptidoglycan), C enzymatic degradation of antibiotics (β-lactamases and transferase), D activation of bacterial efflux pump systems (major facilitator superfamily [MFS], small multidrug resistance [SMR], multidrug and toxic compound extrusion [MATE], ATP binding cassette [ABC], and resistance nodulation division [RND]), and E bypass of metabolic pathway inhibited by antibiotics (alternative folic acid synthesis)

Fig. 2

Diagrammatic representation of the flow of antibiotic residues and the transmission of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs)