Understand the controversy surrounding the use of antibiotics in meat production The European Union (EU) made official its decision to exclude Brazil from the list of countries that comply with the bloc's rules against the excessive use of antimicrobials in livestock farming. As a result, Brazil is banned from exporting meat to the EU from September 3rd this year. Antimicrobials are substances used to control microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. Veterinarian Silvana Gorniak, from USP, explains that, in animal husbandry, these products have four main uses: therapeutic: to treat the animal that showed any symptoms; preventive: to prevent the disease from appearing; o metaphylactic: to contain an outbreak in creation. growth promoter: in this case, antimicrobials are included in the feed composition to improve animal performance. The EU already adopts a zero tolerance policy for the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters. An example of a substance used for this purpose is monensin, one of the most used additives in cattle confinements. "Why is there this discussion regarding the use of antimicrobials as a performance promoter? I use a much lower dose for a very long time. This much lower dose can mean that part of these bacteria can die, but another large part can survive, carrying resistance genes." "There's a phrase we always say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And then it becomes increasingly difficult to have antimicrobials that can combat this bacteria. Heads of cattle; cattle breeding; oxen in Acre Archive/Secom-AC