Analysis of veterinary drug residue monitoring results for commercial livestock products in Taiwan between 2011 and 2015

Antibiotics have been widely used in the treatment of livestock diseases. However, the emergence of issues related to drug resistance prompted governments to enact a series of laws regulating the use of antibiotics in livestock. Following control of the problem of drug resistant bacteria, public attention has shifted to the recurring incidence of human health and safety issues caused by residual veterinary drugs in livestock products. To guarantee the safety and hygiene of meat, milk, and eggs from food-producing animals, governments and relevant agencies established laws and regulations for the use of veterinary drugs. It is, therefore, necessary to monitor the content of residual drugs in livestock products at regular intervals to assess whether the regulations have resulted in the effective management of food product safety, and to prevent and manage sudden problems related to this issue. A 2011–2015 livestock product post-marketing monitoring program launched by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) inspected 1487 livestock products. Over the past 5 years, there were 34 samples identified that did not conform to the regulations; these samples included residue drugs such as β-agonists, chloramphenicols, β-lactam antibiotics, sulfa drugs, enrofloxacin, and lincomycin. Inspections of commercial livestock products with the consistent cooperation of agricultural authorities did not detect the drugs that were banned by the government, whereas the detection of other drugs decreased annually with an increase in the post-market monitoring sample size. In the future, the TFDA will continue to monitor the status of residual veterinary drugs in commercial livestock products, adjust the sampling of food products annually according to monitoring results, and closely cooperate with agricultural authorities on source management.