Review on Chemical and Drug Residue in Meat

摘要

Recently, consumers have expressed concern regarding the presence of chemical adulterants orresidues, mainly antimicrobials, hormones and pesticides in animal’s meat and the health impact of drugresidues in food of animal origin. The animal drug approval process worldwide is based upon the premise thatthe presence of drug residues in meat above tolerance is a public health hazard. Animal drug residues in animaltissues above the legal tolerance clearly have an impact on human health. Tolerances represent the maximumlevel of concentration of a drug permitted in animal tissues at the time of slaughter. The tolerances are intendedto ensure that residual drugs will have no harmful effects if ingested. This paper describes the existing evidencefor specific health hazards of certain pharmacological classes of drugs, the impact of food-borne drug residueson public health and residue detection methods. The primary focus is on possible public health consequencesthat may occur as a result of acute and/or chronic exposure to food of animal origin contaminated with drugresidues above tolerance. Although, at present most residues of veterinary drugs occur in food at such lowlevels that they rarely pose a chronic or long-term health hazard to consumers, the importance of vigilanceabout food safety through the reduction of residues in food supply cannot be overemphasized. Food safetyremains a major concern for society.