American dairy farms warned about antibiotics misuse

Ohio and Indiana dairy farms were warned earlier this month about selling animals for slaughter that were adulterated by the misuse of antibiotics.

 

Some experts blame the misuse of animal antibiotics for making some common antibiotics less effective in human medicine.

 

The first to receive a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration was Troyer Farms in East Laotto, IN.  The June 4 letter notified owner Timothy A. Troyer of the violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that were found during investigation.

 

FDA inspected the Indiana dairy operation last March 9 and 10, finding a dairy cow sold on August 11, 2009 for slaughter was adulterated. The animal drugs flunixin and gentamicin were found, respectively, in the liver tissue and kidney tissues of the dairy cow at unacceptable levels.

 

FDA has established a tolerance level for the sulfa drug, flunixin, of 0.125 parts per million (ppm), and the Troyer Farms cow had 1.0512 ppm in the liver tissue.  There is no tolerance level for gentamicin, an antibiotic. Its residue was found in the cow's liver.

 

"The presence of these drugs in edible tissues from this animal in these amounts causes the food to be adulterated," FDA wrote. The USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) tested the tissue samples.

 

FDA faulted the dairy for the holding medicated animals in conditions where harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply.

 

Poor record keeping and not following label directions for use of the animal drugs are adding to the problem, and not operating under lawful orders of a licensed veterinarian were cited as problems. The antibiotic drug cannot be used 30 days prior to slaughter.

 

A Fredericksburg, Ohio dairy received the other recent warning letter. The June 10 notice to Clearview Farms concerned misuse of the neomycin, another antibiotic.

 

The FSIS tests on tissues from the animal showed the presence of neomycin in the kidney at 7.34 parts per million (ppm). FDA has established a tolerance for residues of neomycin in the uncooked edible tissue of cattle at 7.2 ppm.

 

"Our investigation also found that you hold animals under conditions that are so inadequate that medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply," the FDA warning letter said.