Download Make meat, milk safe to consume

Wisconsin Agriculturist
www.FarmProgress.com – June 2015
19
Dairy & Livestock
Make meat, milk safe to consume
By SANDY STUTTGEN
N 2012, the USDA reported 360 violative
drug residues in meat, representing
0.01% of the 3.1 million dairy cows
slaughtered in the U.S. that year. That
same year, 63 violative meat residues were
found in beef cows, representing 0.002%
of the 3.5 million beef cows slaughtered.
Keep this in perspective. Meat supplied
by dairy and beef cows (about 25% of the
total U.S. beef supply) is essentially free of
residues. However, compared to the beef
industry, dairy is responsible for a fivefoldhigher incidence of violations.
I
law to use the product as the label directs.
Veterinarians within the scope of a valid
veterinary patient relationship may use
some, but not all, FDA-approved drugs in
an extra-label fashion.
Enrofloxacin and sulfamethazine are
prohibited from extra-label drug use in
food-producing animals. ELDU is permitted
for the other drugs identified, and such use
cannot result in violative food residues.
The total number of violative residues
is small; however, milk from individual
treated cows is being sold for human consumption. Missing both on-farm treatment
records and individual animal identification and increasing dosage without adjusting withdrawal times are the top three
reasons given for why residues occur.
Invalid veterinary oversight of ELDU is
evident.
Producers and veterinarians want to
treat the animals in their care effectively,
and both have an ethical responsibility to
use the drugs entrusted to them carefully.
Consumers expect no less.
Stuttgen is the Taylor County Extension
agriculture agent.
Drug violations
The drug violations identified from the
dairy cows slaughtered in 2012 were due
to the beta-lactam
antibiotics desfuroylceftiofur and penicillin, plus a variety
of non-beta-lactams
and nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory
drugs. Bulk tank milk
is only tested for beta-lactam drugs under
the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, and in
2012, 0.02% of raw milk was violative for
these antibiotics.
In response to drug residue violations in dairy beef, the Food and Drug
Administration set out to answer this
question: Were those dairy farms responsible for violative meat residues more
likely to also have raw milk residues, especially from non-beta-lactam drugs?
Bulk tank milk samples taken from
January through November 2012 were
tested for 31 drugs — both beta-lactam
and non-beta-lactam antibiotics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and antihistamine drugs. The results released in March
indicated 15 confirmed positive samples
out of 1,912 tested, or 0.7%. Statistical analysis determined those farms with prior
history of meat residues were no more
likely to have bulk tank milk residues than
those farms without a history of meat residues. The findings of less than 1% of farms’
individual tanks is unlikely to result in violative residue levels in pooled milk.
Five of the six violative drugs identified
(enrofloxacin, florfenicol, gentamicin, tilmicosin and tulathromycin) are prescription products labeled for cattle under
20 months of age (nonlactating). The
over-the-counter drug sulfamethazine,
labeled for cattle under 20 months of age
(nonlactating), was also identified. While
producers can purchase sulfamethazine
without veterinary involvement, they are
required to use it per label directions;
cows should not be treated with it.
Every user of every drug is required by
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