Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
AMR is a major global threat of increasing concern to human, animal, plant and environmental health. It also has implications for both food safety and food security and the economic well being of millions of farming households.
Food plays an important role in the development and spread of AMR. The presence of AMR microorganisms in agricultural production systems and food chains is a potential route of exposure for everyone. Good hygiene practices in agriculture, fundamental in achieving food safety, are also key to addressing antimicrobial resistance.
The Codex Alimentarius and AMR
Microorganisms (bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi) in food are potential food safety hazards. The relationship between the use of antimicrobials (agents that can kill microorganisms or stop them from growing) in foods of animal and plant origin, and the emergence of resistant microorganisms in the food chain is a concern, and has been the subject of numerous national and international consultations.
The extent to which the use of antimicrobial agents in foods of animal and plant origin (including in aquaculture), or in human health, contributes to AMR in humans varies according to factors like geography and the microorganisms concerned.
When humans ingest food containing antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms, some species of microorganisms may cause illness. These and other species may also serve as a source of transferable resistance determinants for other microorganisms, including human pathogens.
In recognizing the need for a more general and multidisciplinary response to deal with AMR, in 2006 the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) established an ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) to develop science-based guidance on how to assess and manage the risks to human health associated with the presence in food and feed (including aquaculture) and the transmission through food and feed of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms. TFAMR was re-established and, in 2021, finalized work on the Code of practice to minimize and contain foodborne antimicrobial resistance (CXC 61-2005), the Guidelines for risk analysis of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (CXG 77-2011) and the Guidelines on integrated monitoring and surveillance of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (CXG 94-2021). These are now known collectively as the Codex AMR texts.
Other Codex texts on residues of veterinary drugs in food, food hygiene and animal feed, also contribute to tackling AMR by preventing the development and minimizing the transmission of AMR through the food chain.
Key facts
Source FAO
Global antimicrobial use in livestock could increase by nearly 30 percent by 2040 under a business-as-usual scenario. However, improved animal health management, biosecurity, and productivity could reduce antimicrobial use by up to 57 percent.
27 different antimicrobial classes are used in animals.
Antibiotic resistance increased in over 40 percent of monitored pathogen-antibiotic combinations between 2018 and 2023, with annual increases ranging from 5 to 15 percent. Around 500 000 human deaths each year are related to AMR.
What is foodborne antimicrobial resistance?
Microbes can be present in the food we eat, and some of them can make people sick. These are called pathogens. These pathogens can also contain the genetic material that enables them to resist antimicrobials. So, if we eat food containing AMR pathogens and get sick, the illness can be more difficult to treat. The transmission of AMR microbes to people through food is called foodborne AMR.
Resources
Publications
ACT Tool to assess the implementation of Codex AMR texts - User manual
Codex texts provide a pathway for global action on foodborne AMR
Foodborne antimicrobial resistance - Compendium of Codex standards
How can Codex standards help tackle foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT)
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