Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment of the level of antibiotics in milk and dairy products his Department has made in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.
Answer
Council Directive 96/23/EC requires member states to monitor for the presence of certain substances and residues in food producing animals and animal products. This included antibiotics in milk with effect from January 1998. Commission Decision 97/747/EC stipulated that raw bovine milk should be tested, and sets out other criteria, such as:"the number of milk samples to be collected, based on forecast production;""the proportion of those samples that must be tested for authorised antimicrobial substances, such as antibiotics; and""the proportion tested for substances, including antibiotics that, because of safety concerns, are not allowed to be used in the EU in food-producing animals."The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is the competent authority for the surveillance programme in the UK. Member states are required to send their annual plans for surveillance, containing the above information, to the Commission. Details of the validated analytical methods used in the UK, which in the case of milk screens for a wide range of antibiotics, are also included. The results are also sent to the Commission.The results of the testing of UK cows' milk are given in table 1. This shows since 1997, in a total of some 18,000 analyses for antibiotics, only 5 samples were found to contain residues of antibiotics above the relevant statutory limit. All of these were of authorised veterinary medicines.The VMD carries out additional testing of dairy products, such as cheese and cream, under its non-statutory surveillance scheme. The results are given in table 2. From a total of some 700 analyses since 1997, only one sample of imported cheese contained a detectable residue.The results of this surveillance have been published on the VMD’s Annual Reports on Surveillance from 1998-2000, which can be found at http://www.vmd.gov.uk/publications/annreps/annreps.htm and from 2001 onwards in the annual reports of the independent Veterinary Residues Committee which can be found at http:/www.vet-residues-committee.gov.uk/.
| Table 1: Results of surveillance for antibiotic residues in UK cows’ milk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Analyses for antibiotic residues | Samples with detectable residues | Samples at or above the reference point¹ |
| 1998 | 1,824 | 2 | 2 |
| 1999 | 2,015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 2,013 | 2 | 2 |
| 2001 | 2,107 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | 2,008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 2,076 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 2,069 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 2,072 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006² | 1,819 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 18,003 | 5 | 5 |
| ¹ For authorised substances, the reference point is the ‘maximum residue limit’. The EU set this limit, which is the maximum concentration of a residue of a particular veterinary medicine that is legally allowed to be present in or on a food. For unauthorised or banned substances, any residue detected by the UK authorities is reported as ‘positive’. | |||
| ² To date |
| Table 2: Results of surveillance for antibiotic residues in other dairy products (UK unless specified) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product(s) | Analyses for antibiotic residues | Samples with detectable residues | Samples at or above the reference point¹ |
| 1998 | |||
| Cheddar Cheese | 51 | 0 | 0 |
| Cream | 51 | 0 | 0 |
| Goat Cheese | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Sheep Cheese | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | |||
| None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | |||
| Goats' Milk | 92 | 0 | 0 |
| Organic Cheese(imported) | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Organic Cheese | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Organic Cream | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | |||
| Goats' Milk | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | |||
| None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | |||
| Dried Milk Powder | 103 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | |||
| None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | |||
| Imported Cheese | 100 | 1 | 1 |
| 2006 | |||
| Imported Cheese | 66 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 707 | 1 | 1 |
| ¹ For authorised substances, the reference point is the ‘maximum residue limit’. The EU set this limit, which is the maximum concentration of a residue of a particular veterinary medicine that is legally allowed to be present in or on a food. For unauthorised or banned substances, any residue detected by the UK authorities is reported as ‘positive’. |