Unless you fancy a MRSA mustache, you might want to put down the milk jug. A research team at Cambridge University has discovered a new Staphylococcus aureus strain in cow's milk that is highly resistant to antibiotics.

How did MRSA wind up in cow's milk? Cows used for dairy often suffer from mastitis, a painful bacterial udder infection caused by unsanitary living conditions and by manipulating cows to produce unnaturally high quantities of milk. Farmers combat mastitis with antibiotics, and Cambridge scientist Dr. Mark Holmes said it is a "credible hypothesis" that overuse of antibiotics in cows has led to the emergence of the new MRSA strain. 
 

 
The birth of a new superbug on a dairy farm really shouldn't come as any surprise, since the widespread use of antibiotics as "growth promoters" on factory chicken, turkey, and pig farms has long been blamed for the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

Fortunately, rice, soy, oat, and nut milks provide calcium, vitamins, and a smooth, silky texture, and they won't leave your cookies swimming in a MRSA bath.

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

Yesterday, the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority ruled against a PETA U.K. ad that the watch group feels the public is too dense to understand. The decision was sparked by a sole complainant who thought that people might be confused by this billboard:

Personally, I think it's pretty straightforward, but moving on: How about this one, which PETA U.K. unveiled yesterday?

Hans-Gerhard Wagner of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization has acknowledged that factory farms create an "opportunity for emerging disease." The meat, egg, and dairy industries keep diseased animals in crowded, filthy conditions and feed them a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive. It shouldn't come as a shock that factory farms provide the ideal conditions for drug-resistant "superbugs" to develop.

Forgo the surgical masks, folks. The safest, easiest way to prevent animal-borne disease epidemics is to go vegan.

Written by Karin Bennett