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meat has not been given antibiotics or hormones or fed animal byproducts? What difference does it make?” A growing number of health-and-nutrition- concious Americans think that this does make a difference. First, consider the antibiotics used to control infection and bacteria caused diseases. In virulent cases, there may be no good alternative to us- ing them, whether in humans or in animals of value. However, their use, especially if widespread, carries risks. One that has received considerable attention in recent decades, is that over a period of time new strains of the offending bacteria appear, having developed genetic mutations that give them immunities to those particular antibiotics, as a direct result of their extensive application. That problem first became apparent when penicillin, introduced in the early 1940s, and hailed as a miracle cure, was found to be diminishing in effectiveness after some years, which has led to continuing strivings among bacteriologists and pharmaceutical companies to develop antibiotics in an ef- fort to stay one step ahead of mutable bacteria. Quite another problem with antibiotics, and possibly of greater serious- ness, lies in the fact that by no means all bacteria are harmful - on the con- trary, many are essential to the maintenance of higher life. The human body, for instance, typically carries an estimated 3 to 4 pounds of its total weight in bacteria, nearly all of beneficial or “friendly” bacteria located in proper or- gans of the body to be used in such necessary functions as digestion in the stomach and proper elimination in the intestines. When the body locates a problem such as an infection, antibodies are called forth to destroy bacteria in the problem area. But the chemical medications that modern pharmacology has produced are not capable of making distinctions between locales where friendly bacteria are working or “bad” ones invading; they destroy those with which they come into contact, including “good” ones well outside the problem area. In cases of infection or bacteria-borne diseases, there may be no choice but to use antibiotics at this stage of medical development - if the danger- ous bacteria threaten a person with death or long term disability, getting rid of them must take priority over other risks. But these risks are by no means negligible. It is widely believed that slowness of recovery or feeling well again after treatment for a bacterial attack, is linked in part to an antibiotic’s reducing the numbers of friendly bacteria along with the “bad” - interfering with the body’s natural immune system in the process. As one example, if a person finishes a round of antibiotics without replacing the friendly bacteria in the intestines (this includes a balance of probiotics with the added addition of 175