Some US corn ethanol producers are using penicillin and three other antibiotics in corn fermentation process says Minnesota Public Radio.
Why? To ensure that the yeast they use in fermentation does not have to compete with naturally-occurring bacteria that wants the sugars in the fermenting mash itself.
I think that this matters on two counts:
One of the major revenue steams from ethanol producers is to sell the spent grain as protein-rich animal feed called distillers grains. There are strict limits in some countries on the amount of antibiotics in food produced by animals fed on this.
If the FDA, which carried out the study on distillers grains from 60 ethanol plants in the US were to strictly limit the amount of antibiotics in distillers grains, the future of many of the plants in the US would be called into doubt.
The second, more far reaching effect is about antibiotic-tolerant bacteria. The FDA researched 60 samples across the US, and found Penicillin, virginiamycin, erythromycin and tylosin in the samples.
Virginiamyacin plays an important role in human medicine for the very ill, it is used to treat endocarditis or meningitis. Here's just how important in a quote from the University of Michigan.
By using antibiotics in these ways, isn't it possible that the US corn ethanol industry is helping to breed new strains of bacteria that resist virginiamycin and other antibiotics that are used to save lives. Does your plant use antibiotics? How do you feel about it? Let me know.
I think that this matters on two counts:
One of the major revenue steams from ethanol producers is to sell the spent grain as protein-rich animal feed called distillers grains. There are strict limits in some countries on the amount of antibiotics in food produced by animals fed on this.
If the FDA, which carried out the study on distillers grains from 60 ethanol plants in the US were to strictly limit the amount of antibiotics in distillers grains, the future of many of the plants in the US would be called into doubt.
The second, more far reaching effect is about antibiotic-tolerant bacteria. The FDA researched 60 samples across the US, and found Penicillin, virginiamycin, erythromycin and tylosin in the samples.
Virginiamyacin plays an important role in human medicine for the very ill, it is used to treat endocarditis or meningitis. Here's just how important in a quote from the University of Michigan.
The next AGP on the list is virginiamycin. Now virginiamycin is related to Synercid, which is an antibiotic that was just marketed for [vancomycin-resistant enterococcus]VRE in the US in 1999, and this is after we went 10 years in US hospitals without having any antibiotics to treat VRE. Yet here it is, literally, out in our food chain. Virginiamycin has been used in US animals since 1974. It was banned by the European Union in 1998. One study by L. Clifford McDonald that appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2001 found that about 17-87 percent of chickens tested in supermarkets in four different states, harbored this streptogram or quinupristin/dalfopristin-resistant organism.My emphasis
By using antibiotics in these ways, isn't it possible that the US corn ethanol industry is helping to breed new strains of bacteria that resist virginiamycin and other antibiotics that are used to save lives. Does your plant use antibiotics? How do you feel about it? Let me know.
Comments (5)
It is important to look at the use of antibiotics, but it is also important to not jump too far ahead.
Antibiotic resistance is incredibly complicated and drawing a line from DDGS or ethanol to humans with untreatable disease is difficult. Especially since the level of antibiotics in DDGS and/or used in the ethanol process is so incredibly small.
Importantly, we also need to remember that anything using live cultures/yeasts/bacteria will have these problems. That means any current or future alternative fuel/energy source. Jumping to conclusions now could damage the entire sector.
Posted by Mike | March 26, 2009 5:18 PM
Posted on March 26, 2009 17:18
Hi Mike,
It is an interesting question isn't it: A degree of fuel independence vs another assault on the effectiveness of antibiotics by businesses related to agriculture. Let's be honest here, its about not thinking beyond the obvious. How about sterilising the corn before it is added to a clean reactor? Would boiling the mash solve the problem?
Do you by any chance work at David & Associates , a pr firm with clients that include Aurora Co-Op which had an agreement to build 100-250m gal year ethanol plant at Aurora West with Aventine in 2006. If you do could you quantify "incredibly small" in terms of oz/gal ethanol. I'd really appreciate it.
simon
Posted by Simon Robinson
|
March 27, 2009 12:35 PM
Posted on March 27, 2009 12:35
The high temperatures used during the distillation process and the DDG drying process completely denatures the antibiotics so no active antibiotics are present in the DDGS fed to livestock.
Posted by John | March 27, 2009 5:37 PM
Posted on March 27, 2009 17:37
Antibiotics aren't the only way to eliminate the wild strains of yeast that develop during the fermentation process. The "tried and true" method of using antibiotics has the potential for causing antibiotic resistance in the yeast as well as devaluing the spent grain due to limitations on antibiotic tainted grain.
Rather than using an expensive antibiotic to control these strains, new technology exists to wash the yeast with chlorine dioxide. The yeast does not develop resistance to the chlorine dioxide and ClO2 is organic approved, so the use of the spent grain as feed stock is acceptable.
Posted by steve.eberhard | March 29, 2009 7:44 PM
Posted on March 29, 2009 19:44
Antibiotics are not fully broken down in destillation and drying of spent grains! You might regularly find residues with all the potential risks that bears! It is for a good reason that antibiotics are strictly banned from animal feed in Europe.
Quite a good choice against unwanted bacteria in ethanol fermentation are hop products, naturally derived from hops, lat. humulus lupulus, the spice of beer. These liquid extracts are commercially available and are widely used in the US and also in Europe and Latin America.
@steve.eberhard: In fact wild yeast can mainly be a problem when you recycle yeast from the process. Chlorine dioxide is a toxic chemical that has to be produced on site and is a bit agressive.
Posted by stefan | April 16, 2009 1:53 PM
Posted on April 16, 2009 13:53