Timeline

Alexander Fleming warned the world about the dangers of antibiotic resistance in his 1945 noble speech.

Scientists working for a US pharmaceutical company discover that adding low doses of certain antibiotics to animal feed makes them grow faster.

UK legalises adding antibiotics to animal feed for growth promotion despite Ministry of Health officials warning it would lead to antibiotic resistance. No veterinary prescription was required for growth promoters.

UK government establishes Swann Committee after serious outbreaks of multi-drug resistant salmonella were linked to the use of antibiotics in intensively farmed calves.

The Swann report is published and recommends banning the use of medically important antibiotics as growth promoters. However no recommendation is made to ban preventative mass medication, despite the committee saying such use could not be justified.

Use of penicillin and tetracyclines are banned as growth promoters.

Antibiotics such as tylosin and avoparcin, which were in same antibiotic families as medically important antibiotics are licensed for growth promotion, despite Swann recommendations.

the Expert Group on Animal Feedingstuffs (the Lamming Committee) recommended that prophylactic use should be "reconsidered"; the Veterinary Products Committee accordingly decided to "discourage" it, but no action is taken.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics licensed for use in poultry in the UK despite evidence this was likely to lead to resistance in human Campylobacter infections.

New data on farm antibiotic use confirms that banning penicillin and tetracyclines as growth promoters has failed. Total farm use of antibiotics in the tetracycline and penicillin class of antibiotics has increased by 600 per cent since Swann.

The EU ban on all antibiotic growth promoters comes into force. Still no action against preventative mass medication.

Soil Association reveals critically important modern cephalosporins are being used routinely off-label in UK chicken industry in breach of EU Directive.

Soil Association reveals emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbug MRSA in European and North American pig industries.

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is established, founded by Compassion in World Farming, the Soil Association and Sustain.

Total veterinary use of antibiotics classified as high-priority critically important in human medicine (fluoroquinolones and modern cephalosporins) reaches an all-time high.

Government-commissioned Review on Antimicrobial Resistance calls for major, worldwide cuts in farm antibiotic use.

The Alliance reveals that resistance to the antibiotic colistin, used as a last-resort in human medicine, has been found in British livestock, retail meat and human infections.

Studies carried out by Cambridge University scientists for the Alliance finds MRSA in British-produced supermarket pork and highly antibiotic-resistant ESBL E. coli in British-produced supermarket chicken and pork.

The industry Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture alliance establishes a Targets Taskforce with the objective of setting targets for reducing farm antibiotic use.

British Poultry Council announces a voluntary ban on using antibiotics for prophylaxis in poultry and on using fluoroquinolone antibiotics in chickens.

Representatives from 193 countries sign a declaration on antimicrobial resistance at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is awarded the second prize for the European Health Award for NGOs fighting antimicrobial resistance.

WHO recommends that farmers and the food industry stop using antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals.

The alliance publishes report into antibiotic use in supermarket supply chains which shows that five of eight supermarkets no longer permit suppliers to use antibiotics for routine disease prevention.

Soon after Alliance supermarket report, Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose publish their antibiotic-usage data for fresh and frozen meat and dairy in line with Alliance demands.

EU decides to ban all routine farm antibiotic use including preventative group treatments from 28 January 2022.

The British Government refuses to commit to banning preventative group treatments.

Ten leading medical organisations and publications write to the UK Government calling on it to commit unequivocally to banning preventative antibiotic group treatments in livestock

Government data shows that UK farm antibiotic use has fallen by 50% in recent years. Pig and poultry industry cut their antibiotic use by 60% and 80% respectively.

New government 5-year Action Plan 2019-2024 on antibiotic resistance does not mention banning group prophylaxis.

50 years after after a seminal government report found that the misuse of antibiotics in farming was a threat to human health, a new Alliance report calls for a ban on routine use.

New data published by the Alliance shows that organic livestock farms certified by the Soil Association have much lower antibiotic use than the average levels previously found in national monitoring of all UK livestock farming.

The Alliance finds that all ten leading UK supermarkets now have a ban on most or all of their UK own-brand suppliers from using antibiotics for routine disease prevention. However, most imports and branded products are not covered by the supermarket’s own rules for responsible antibiotic use.

From 28 January 2022, all forms of routine farm antibiotic use, including preventative group treatments, are banned in the EU. Using antibiotics to compensate for poor hygiene or inadequate animal husbandry is also banned.

Testing commissioned by World Animal Protection, the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds bacteria resistant to the highest priority critically important antibiotics in rivers and waterways in areas with high numbers of factory farms.

An Alliance report finds that all ten leading UK catering companies assessed have weak or non-existent antibiotic policies. Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services also make no mention of the need for responsible antibiotic use.

Alliance launches new report calling on the UK government to deliver on its commitment to ban routine antibiotic use, including prophylactic group treatments, the EU did in 2022, and to prioritise better husbandry standards.

On 17 May 2024, new UK legislation came into force and banned the routine use of antibiotics on farm animals and their use to compensate for poor hygiene, inadequate animal husbandry, or poor farm management practices. Prophylactic use was restricted to “exceptional circumstances, but group prophylactic treatments were not banned.

The Alliance's fourth assessment of supermarket antibiotics policies finds that supermarket supply chains are not yet complying with new legislation which prohibits using antibiotics to prop up poor farming practices.