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Source: USDA ARS
In a study involving more than 1,000 swine kidney samples, almost no veterinary drug residues were found and none at levels even close to US regulatory limits, according to a recently published study by a scientist Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Food Additives and Contaminants: Part A.
These results indicate that US pork producers are using veterinary compounds correctly and indicate that residues of veterinary drugs in pork do not pose health problems to US consumers, according to the ARS chemist, Weilin Shelver. Shelver works for the ARS Metabolism Animal-Agricultural Chemicals Research Unit in Fargo, N.D.
A total of 1,040 pork kidneys were purchased from four Midwest grocery stores and badyzed for residues of commonly used veterinary drugs and food additives: flunixin, penicillin G, ractopamine, sulfamethazine, and tetracycline. Pork kidneys are commonly used as indicator meat because they are easily accessible and tend to concentrate drug residues over more commonly consumed muscle meats.
Only 6 of the 1,040 samples tested – 0.58% – were positive for antibiotic screening, indicating that these samples may contain antibiotic residues.
As a further check, a subset of 278 samples of pork kidney samples was screened with a more specific type of badysis to detect residues of four veterinary drugs: flunixin, an anti-viral agent. non-steroidal inflammatory; ractopamine, an agent that improves the leanness of meat; and sulfamethazine and tetracycline antibiotics. These tests used Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs), which are sometimes able to measure residues at concentrations well below those required by regulatory tolerances.
Regardless of the test method, the residue levels of all veterinary compounds were still well below US regulatory tolerances. For example, among the samples evaluated by the highly sensitive ELISA method and other methods, only 4% were positive for trace amounts of sulfamethazine, 10% for traces of tetracycline and 22% for detectable amounts of food additive commonly used, ractopamine.
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