U.S. milk supply gets safer every year
Antibiotic usage and antibiotic resistance are two topics that continue to generate concern throughout the world’s food and medical communities. The concern is warranted because antibiotics rank among the world’s top antimicrobial countermeasures to thwart disease in both humans and animals. That makes protecting the “super powers” found in antibiotics a major priority. We do this by not misusing or even overusing the wonder drugs, the first of which was discovered by Alexander Fleming.
When it comes to dairy, all involved are doing their part.
How do we know that’s true?
Meat residues demand attention, too
A tanker load of milk that comes up positive for antibiotic residue is a nightmare that every dairy farm takes steps to prevent. What tends to be less often discussed are residues in a secondary product from dairy animals: meat.
This is an area that the dairy industry has also made strides in, said Jamie Jonker, National Milk Producers Federation vice president of sustainability and scientific affairs. He shared that tissue residue violations in dairy cull cows have fallen 40% just since 2014.
“We had a little over 700 animals that had a drug residue in 2014, and we’re down to about 400 in 2019. That is about 400 animals out of over 3 million dairy cows that go to slaughter each year,” said Jonker, who works with the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program, in a Quick Convos episode.