Veterinary feed directive now in effect

January 3, 2017

New policies from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of medically important antibiotics are in effect, and the animal drug industry has met the agency’s January 1 deadline for changing labels, FDA said.

Medically important antibiotics used in food-producing animals must now be given under the supervision of a veterinarian. A veterinarian must sign a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) to authorize use of the antibiotics in feed and sign a prescription if administered in water. Under FDA’s new policies, antibiotics will not be used for growth promotion. Click here for the agency’s announcement and related documents.