Related Posts
Junk food just as bad as drugs
Food manufacturers create products to manipulate these contents to induce more consumption. Conditioned hyper-eating is likened to drug...
Animal suicide – are they ‘just like us’?
In The Cove, the Oscar winning documentary on Japanese dolphin slaughter, activist and former dolphin trainer Richard O'Barry...
National Geographic releases results of second sustainable consumption surveyThe Greendex survey is an annual study that measures consumption in terms of environmental impact among consumers from...
Animal Barcoding Provides Whole New World of InformationPicture yourself working for an inventory company. You are at a store scanning barcodes, one by one, when...' src='http://gf2.statico.be/wp-content/themes/greenfudge/thumbnails/7465.jpg' alt='full-disclosure-multinational-corporations-feed-us-rainforests' class='art-teaser' width='95' height='95' />Full disclosure: Multinational corporations ‘feed’ us rainforests A new report by the Forest Footprint Disclosure initiative discloses how global business is destroying the one of...
Get your Eco Starter Kit
Create an account and start harvesting Carbon Credits! Exchange your Carbon Credits for green goodies, like the Eco-Hatchery Starter Kit!
-
Green network users
2,990 Users - Show All
Green Directory
Tip of the Day
Keep eggs out of the fridge to save energy when cooking them
Animal feed, veterinary drugs and human consumption
image credit: US EPA
The role of animal feed in the production of safe food is recognized worldwide, and recent events have underlined its impacts on public health, feed and food trade, and food security.
In modern farming practices, veterinary drugs are administered to food-producing animals in order to prevent and to treat several types of pathologies, to shorten feeding time and abate the risk of losses.
Meat products and animal products such as milk and eggs, may have some residual amounts of veterinary drugs which remain in edible tissues after harvest. In these animal products, where the manufacturers’ and national legislative directions are followed by farmers and producers, drug residue levels will be within safe limits. In relatively few cases, where levels of residuals exceed permitted maximum limits, the cause is nearly always an improper use of veterinary drugs and because of this, these products are not legally allowed into the food system.
In recent years, the introduction of the food chain approach, which recognizes that responsibility for the supply of safe, healthy and nutritious food is shared along the entire food chain, has served to highlight the importance of feed safety. The food chain, thus, comprises every step from primary production to final consumption. Stakeholders include farmers, fishermen, slaughterhouse operators, feed producers and processors, food processors, transport operators, distributors (wholesale and retail) and consumers, as well as governments responsible for protecting public health.
Veterinary drug residues may be found in food products as a result of the carry over of veterinary drugs in feed during feed production.
Experts recommend – and best practice is based on this principle – that veterinary drugs similar to human medicines may be used for animal health treatment if science-based risk analysis indicates their use poses little or no risk of compromising future human health treatments.
Trace amounts of some drug residues may pass into our food through the food chain and can be detected by analysis of food products in the laboratory. It is of paramount importance that there are safety standards, to which food producers can adhere.
Veterinary drug residues are regulated similar to other chemical residues that may be present in a foodstuff.
As animal feed is an important route by which hazards can enter the human food chain, its safety must be assessed prior to its feeding to animals. Safety assessments are often multifaceted. They usually consider both the safety of animals as the primary consumers of the feed, and safety of humans as the indirect consumers of any residues that may remain in food of animal origin.
WHO – Evaluation of certain veterinary drug residues in food (PDF)
FAO/WHO – U.S.F.D.A. Regulatory Approach for Control of Residues of Veterinary Drugs
Tags: animal, consumption, drugs, feed, food, human, veterinary
One comment
You can also log in to post a comment.
Other Greenfudge.org posts
NASA study shows Earth lakes are warming up
In a global survey of temperature trends in major lakes, a first of it’s kind, NASA researchers have found that the Earth’s largest lakes have warmed up in the past 25 years in response to climate change. For the study, researchers at NASA measured and monitored the surface temperatures of 167 large lakes worldwide. Per decade, an average warming rate of 0,45 degrees Celsius (0,81 degrees Fahrenheit) was reported, with some exceptions where surface temperature warm-up reached as much as 1...
Greener homes and Greener sex: More environmental videos from msnbc.com
First – from NBC television's 'The Today Show', a story about two American families who reduce their energy use by taking simple measures in their own homes. The report includes several helpful ways to save energy and save money. Tips range from installing low flow showerheads to weather stripping windows and doors. Watch to see if you can learn something about Greening up your own home that might save you money at the same time. 'Families go green to save big' Visit...
Government-bred super bees – a possible answer to the question: Who will save the honeybees?
About a third of our diet depends on the pollination of crops by honeybees, including many fruits, vegetables, seeds, beans and spices. Over the past 30 odd years, the honeybee population has been declining. So far, food production has not been gravely affected, but scientists, farmers and beekeepers have cause to be worried. The disappearance of honeybees, termed Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, is an acute agricultural threat in North America and Western Europe. The latest mass die off of honeybees...
NBC’s ‘A Perfect Storm’ explores the link between climate change and war
NBC Nightly News continues their environmentally themed segment 'A Perfect Storm', this time examining how changes in climate might contribute to violent conflicts among deprived communities. Drought, flooding, population displacement and resulting wars over water and other resources can be caused or exacerbated by climate change, according to this NBC report. Military organizations like NATO and the Pentagon are already conscious of possible future economic, social and political instability, which can be influenced by climate change. One case in point...
Latest on Iceland volcano: Navy sent to fetch stranded Britons, Kenyan farmers feel effects of flight ban
The Telegraph reports that the ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano that lingers over much of Europe could continue to be blown over the UK until Friday, but specific conditions will depend on wind directions and the height of the ash plume. An article in the Guardian tells of how the UK government is attempting to find solutions for the massive amount of British tourists and travelers stuck overseas. Bus, ferry and train services have all increased their capacities, while an...
Video: BP oil spill = Eco disaster for Louisiana wildlife
Thursday night oil from the British Petroleum rig in the Gulf of Mexico reached Louisiana's shores, threatening coastal wildlife – one of the United States' most sensitive natural habitats. The rig is spilling around 5,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf per day, some five times more than previously estimated. For more information watch this BBC News video report. Also check out the below video report from NBC's Today Show on the oil spill's coastal threat and what teams of workers –...
Deep-sea census yields 17,000 new species
Life in the deep sea is just as weird and wonderful as any alien creatures from outer space that our imaginations might conjure up, a massive study of marine biology shows. Comprising of some 210 expeditions spanning ten years by over 300 scientists from 34 nations, the international Census of Marine Life is in fact the culmination of 'hundreds of years of research'. Very little is known about ocean life when compared to the eco-systems on land, especially the deep,...
Muslim Uyghurs left out of China’s wind energy boom
Xinjiang autonomous region is China’s frontier land for renewable energy. China has poured cash into wind energy projects in Xinjiang, fuelling a boom in the country’s largest and most western region. Because of the Chinese government’s investment in renewables, like the wind farms of Xinjiang, China has recently been named the best place to invest in green energy. But for many people in Xinjiang, particularly the Muslim Uyghur community who make up its largest ethnic group, the ‘wind rush’ is just another...
Breaking: Earthquake hits south of Sumatra
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7,5 on the Richter scale hit south of Sumatra earlier today, in the area of the Mentawi islands. A tsunami alarm was issued shortly after the earthquake to warn local population, but the alarm has been revoked in the meantime. There is currently no report of damages or casualties caused by the earthquake....
Breaking: Dense ash cloud from Iceland volcano suspends more flights in UK, Ireland
Several airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland stopped all flights at 07:00 BST this morning, with more airport closures in those regions planned for this afternoon. The culprit is, of course, Iceland's Eyafjallajökull volcano, which has proceeded to emit ash into northwestern European skies. Changing weather conditions such as the strength and direction of winds have and will continue to affect air traffic conditions over the British Isles. For more details on airport closures and ash cloud conditions see this BBC report...
View all articles
That is a relief to know that our authorities are doing everything that they can to ensure the safety of the food that we consume. I hope they remain vigilant and aggressive in implementing the safety standard protocols in raising these animals.