Crypto News: Supply Lines: Superbug food threat

It's described as a silent pandemic with risks akin to climate change, and it's bad news for food supplies.

Antimicrobial resistance, where viruses, fungi or bacteria become resistant to medicines, kills more than 1 million people every year and is a drag on healthcare resources and economies.

But the problem, known as AMR, also affects farm animals including cattle and poultry. If unaddressed, superbugs could result in livestock output losses equal to the consumption needs of 746 million people by mid-century, research released this week showed.

Some 2 billion people could be affected in a more severe scenario, according to modelling based on data from more than 200 countries.

"The impact of AMR on the health of animals, our environment and our economy cannot be overlooked," said Emmanuelle Soubeyran, director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health, which led the study.

The threat of drug-resistant infections to human health is already widely recognized. More than 39 million people could die globally from antibiotic-resistant infections over the next 25 years, a recent study in The Lancet showed.

But the use of antibiotics in livestock is also part of the problem. In the US alone, about 80% of antibiotics sold go into food that animals eat.

"Companies — from pharma to pork producers — take advantage of lax regulations allowing the routine use of antibiotics in animals," said Jeremy Coller, founder of the FAIRR investor network. That enables "them to cut corners in animal welfare, while diminishing antibiotic effectiveness in humans," he said.

FAIRR is part of an initiative of investors with more than $13 trillion in combined assets who recently warned that AMR is now a "systemic risk akin to climate change and nature loss."

World health leaders who convened in New York this week committed to reducing human deaths linked to AMR by 10% by the end of the decade.

The food-security impact will probably be felt more acutely in low- and middle-income countries, the researchers including WOAH said. They called for investments in new drug innovations and healthcare improvements, which would return $28 for every $1 invested.

More Food for Thought

Read this week's Big Take on how Brazil's farmers are plowing over an ancient Amazon civilization.

—Agnieszka de Sousa in London

Cabbages & cucumbers | China's policymakers may be doing their utmost to shake off deflationary pressures weighing on much of Asia's largest economy, but there's one category of products that stands out as a contrast: vegetables. Prices of fresh produce — items integral to the diets of millions across the country — have surged on a combination of disruptive weather and roiled logistics. Among the recent challenges was the hit from Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest storm in more than seven decades. (Read the full story here.)

Palm oil has lost its position as the world's cheapest edible oil, thanks to shrinking output in the biggest growers and plentiful supply of the main alternative.
Brazil's wildfires and drought that rattled the global sugar market have put the onus on Thailand and India to cover lost supplies. But both have offered recent reminders that they too face their own risks.
Floods that have submerged parts of Nigeria at the onset of the harvest season have destroyed crops that would have fed 8.5 million people for six months, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization estimated.
A labor union is calling on US authorities to investigate JBS over allegations of abuse and crimes against immigrant workers just as the world's largest meat producer seeks to trade its shares in the US.
Cocoa harvests are looking better for the new season, but it may not be enough to bring chocolate costs down much.
Native plants are being replaced by invasive weeds thanks to climate change, with grave consequences for humans and animals. But the small industry trying to stem the tide is struggling.
A wave of inexpensive steak-focused menus across New York is bucking the trend of triple-digit tomahawk chops.
Criminals are exploiting olive oil's price shock, meaning you may be getting an adulterated product or worse, Bloomberg Opinion writes.

Vice President Kamala Harris' proposal to ban price gouging on food and groceries identifies a real problem, with high food costs eating into household budgets. It's not the right solution, Bloomberg Economics argues.
More than 55 farm and fuel trade groups pressed President Joe Biden to avert potential port disruptions along the East and Gulf Coasts, warning that labor strikes during harvest season would hurt the agriculture supply chain and broader economy, Bloomberg First Word reports.
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