Surprising Reason Antibiotic-Laced Meat Could Be Making Us Fat and Sick

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For decades, livestock producers have used low doses of antibiotics to expedite animal growth. The practice, dubbed sub-therapeutic antibiotic therapy (STAT), lowers feed costs while increasing meat production, and nearly 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States are for this purpose.
Because STAT can encourage the growth of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs,” it’s banned in many countries, but remains common in the U.S., despite recent public pleas to stop it by two former FDA commissioners. Although STAT has been in use since the 1950s, how it works has long been a mystery. But evidence is mounting that it might be due to antibiotics killing microorganisms that populate animals’ guts.
(alternet)