Antibiotic residues in foods

There is an additional protection against residues, because antibiotics in meat tend to be destroyed by cooking.. For example, Broquist and Kohler found that chicken breast muscle containing 12 parts per million of chlortetracycline had 0.14 parts per million after roasting at 230 C for 15 minutes and no detectable amounts after half an hour. The original level of 12 ppm was about 60 times as high as would be produced by 400 ppm in the animal feed, without a withdrawal period W. The UK Swann Committee reported that the only possible effect of residues on consumers arose from penicillin in milk from cows treated for udder infections in which the withdrawal time for the antibiotic had not been observed. Cases of skin rashes were reported from the consumption of such milk by sensitive patients. The Committee commented that "there are no known instances in which harmful effects in human beings have resulted from antibiotic residues in food other than milk" ( ) ... 

The appearance of antibiotic residues in food products of animal... 

Physicochemical Methods for Identifying Antibiotic Residues in Foods... 

These include the emergence of potentially dangerous antibiotic resistant microorganisms, the possibility of toxic or allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and/or technological problems of starter culture inhibition associated with antibiotic residues in food products. This paper summarizes the risks, as well as some of the benefits, of antibiotics in foods and feeds. 

In order to control chronic toxicity and allergic reactions, safety standards for antibiotic residues in food have been established. The WHO/FAO guidelines for antibiotic residues in milk, meat and egg used for human consumption are given in Table... 

In summary, antibiotic residues in foods pose certain potential risks as well as potential benefits. The emergence of possibly dangerous antibiotic resistance organisms has led to the consideration that antibiotics commonly used in humans or those which are cross resistant with important antibiotics used in humans, be eliminated from the food supply by banning their use in livestock production. Additional research in this area and that of toxic and/or allergic sensitivity reactions is required to make assessment of their public health risks. Only then can critical risk/benefit decisions be made for antibiotics. 

Analytical chemists take numerous parameters into account when determining antibiotic residues in food of animal origin, some of which are discussed here. 

Chemical Analysis of Antibiotic Residues in Food, First Edition. Edited by Jian Wang, James D. MacNeil, and Jack F. Kay. 2012 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published 2012 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES IN FOOD AND DRINKING WATER, AND FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS... 

Analytical methods for the detection and/or determination of antibiotic residues in food fall into two categories ... 

TABLE 6.1 Summary of LC-MS Analysis of Antibiotic Residues in Food Matrices and Other Substances... 

It is evident from this chapter that there are many examples of methods for the analysis of antibiotic residues in food that utilize mass spectrometry. As a result, the fragmentation patterns for different classes of antibiotics have been proposed and described in several multi-residue methods, as well as in procedures for specific groups of compounds. Table 6.4 and Figure 6.14 provide examples of the common product ions and expected neutral losses seen in MS/MS spectra for major classes of antibiotics. Specific examples, along with relevant citations, are also provided. As MS methods begin to search for and identify more non-targeted analytes, it will become more important to be familiar with the fragmentation patterns of common analytes. 

For the analysis of antibiotic residues in foods, there is a limited number of methods that have been evaluated by collaborative study and a lack of certified reference materials (see other chapters on specific methods of analysis and quality assurance for additional details). Hence, the assessment of accuracy is most frequently based on analytical recovery from fortified materials when developing and validating these methods. 

Analytical results for the determination of antibiotic residues in food, in common with results generated in other laboratories or branches of analytical chemistry, must be reliable and comparable. It is a requirement for laboratories accredited under the ISO/IEC 17025 quality system that the measurement uncertainty associated with a result should be made available and reported if it is required by the client, is relevant to the validity of the test results, or may affect compliance with a specification, for example, compliance with a maximum residue limit (MRL) for antibiotics. The Codex Alimentarius Commission also recommends that laboratories provide their customers on request with information on the measurement uncertainty or a statement of confidence associated with quantitative results for veterinary drug residues. The relevant sections in ISO 17025 are quoted below ... 

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