February 8, 2001

Dairy Expert Urges Vigilance to Avoid Antibiotic Contamination in Milk

With changes in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s testing program for detecting animal drug residues, more dairy farms are likely to be tested for residue, according to a North Dakota State University dairy specialist.

"Dairy producers work hard at keeping antibiotic residues out of milk," says J.W. Schroeder of the NDSU Extension Service. "The changes in the testing program can serve as a reminder that constant vigilance is needed to maintain the integrity of your product."

Research has revealed common causes for drug residue in milk. "Look at this list and develop procedures that you follow every day to prevent problems from occurring," Schroeder says. The top causes of antibiotic residue in milk are:

10) Cows drink from a medicated footbath.

9) Medicated feed is accidentally mixed into the lactating cow feed.

8) Antibiotic residues remain in the milk of a cow that was treated extra-label. These cows should be tested individually.

7) All antibiotic-treated dry cows are milked last, but the milk line isn’t diverted from the bulk tank.

6) Equipment used to milk treated cows handled carelessly. For example, vacuum from the milk pipeline is used to operate dump-milk buckets.

5) One quarter of a cow is treated for mastitis and withheld from the bulk tank, but milk from the other three quarters isn’t withheld.

4) Lactating cows are treated prior to their sale and the new owner isn’t aware of the antibiotic use.

3) The milking unit used to milk an antibiotic-treated cow isn’t cleaned and sanitized before milking untreated cows.

2) An antibiotic-treated dry cow is unintentionally milked.

1) Milk from a treated cow is accidentally routed into the pipeline.

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Source: J.W. Schroeder, (701) 231-7663, jschroed@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu