Read our latest report assessing the antibiotics policies of the eleven leading UK supermarkets in 2024

The legislation, coming into force in Scotland, Wales and England, bans routine use, restricts preventative use to exceptional circumstances, and bans use “to compensate for poor hygiene, inadequate animal husbandry, or poor farm management practices”.

Our latest report outlines why the UK Government's proposed new regulations on farm antibiotic use don't go far enough, and how improvements to animal husbandry standards can achieve far greater reductions in antibiotic use than regulation alone.

A 2023 report on the policies for antibiotics in food served by catering companies, including in school and healthcare settings

A January 2022 report from the European Public Health Alliance on achieving responsible farm antibiotic use through improving animal health and welfare in pig and poultry production. Authored by the Alliance's Scientific Advisor, Cóilín Nunan.

In November 2022 the Alliance and World Animal Protection released new research showing that UK rivers near factory farms had high levels of bacteria resistant to antibiotics that are critically important in human medicine.

As we get closer to the finalisation of a UK/Australia trade deal, we look at how British and Australian standards on farm antibiotic use differ.

We're calling for the leading British supermarkets to cut irresponsible antibiotic use out of their supply chains.

We've found that most of the UK’s leading supermarkets have commitments to sourcing animal products produced with responsible antibiotic use. However, these usually only cover some or all of their own-brand animal produce and frequently only that which is of UK origin.

New documentary about the use of antibiotics in global agriculture and the rise of antimicrobial resistance. Credit: Lydia Handford, Ocean Drive Films.

In our report 'Antibiotic use in Organic Farming; Lowering Use Through Good Husbandry' we analyse the latest data and find stark differences in levels of antibiotic use between a sample of UK Soil Association certified organic farms and the UK national average, indicating that organic farms use four times fewer antibiotics on average.

Imagine a global health crisis which causes more deaths than cancer. That’s the future we face unless we take action now to stop the rise of antibiotic resistance. Drawing on decades of academic research, Cóilín Nunan, Scientific Advisor for the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, shares the action we need to take now.

Why are infectious disease outbreaks in humans, such as SARS, MERS, swine flu and now Covid-19 becoming increasingly frequent? Is it reasonable to expect ever-more epidemics if we continue with business as usual once Covid-19 has passed?

Our briefing explores what's changing in 2022, and how the UK is lagging behind.

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics has nine key recommendations to safeguard human and animal health pertaining to trade and antibiotics when the UK leaves the EU.

Read our Alliance antibiotics timeline to explore the history of antibiotics overuse, resistance, and regulatory efforts.

Here you'll find our newsletter archive. Scroll down and hit subscribe to get our regular updates sent straight to your inbox.