Potential effects on human health of veterinary drug residues in food

7 Potential effects on human health of veterinary drug residues in food 

The most recently reported UK results on surveillance for veterinary drug residues in meat and animal products show that traces of these compounds can, and sometimes do, arise in food. As all of these compounds are biologically potent in order to be effective in use, it is necessary to ensure that any residual activity in a food product does not present a risk to the consumer. The use of veterinary medicines inevitably leads to the presence of trace residues in food and the purpose of toxicological safety evaluation is to determine at what concentration the residues of a particular compound becomes a cause for concern with regard to human health. Thus, dose-response relationships have to be established and used to determine the concentration of a dmg at which the risks to human health become acceptable and are outweighed by the benefits from the use of the drug. This is in essence the process involved in the setting of Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADIs) and 

The presence of residues tends to be isolated to relatively infrequent occurrences and the risk they represent when present in food may be primarily limited to a very small minority of susceptible individuals. However, despite this and to protect the health of all consumers, it is the duty of the authorities and industry to monitor the safety of the food supply by ensuring that adequate surveillance is conducted and controls enforced. 

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