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Home » What Is The Withdrawal Period for Antibiotics, and Why Does It Matter?

What Is The Withdrawal Period for Antibiotics, and Why Does It Matter?

By Marybeth Feutz 5 Comments

Every medicine that is given to animals, including antibiotics, has a withdrawal period. Farmers must follow these withdrawal times to be sure no antibiotics are in our food.

What Is The Withdrawal Period for Antibiotics, and Why Does It Matter? from My Fearless Kitchen. Every medicine that is given to animals, including antibiotics, has a withdrawal period. Farmers must follow these withdrawal times to be sure no antibiotics are in our food.

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What Is The Withdrawal Period?

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When a person or an animal is given an antibiotic, it goes to work in the body. The antibiotic does its job killing bacteria, and the body does its job breaking down the antibiotic. This break down takes different times for different antibiotics. It also takes different times in different animals (cows compared to pigs, for example). Some antibiotics have different break down times for different tissues (milk, meat, or liver for example).

The time it takes the body to break down the antibiotic until it is no longer functional or present is called the withdrawal time (or withdrawal period). Once the withdrawal period has passed the antibiotic has been eliminated from the animal’s system.

(Ladies, if you have ever been on an antibiotic while you were taking birth control pills, you were probably told to use an extra method of protection. Some antibiotics interact with birth control pills and make the birth control not work. A few days or weeks after you were done taking the antibiotic, your birth control pills became effective again. That was your withdrawal period.)

Every antibiotic has a withdrawal period. Some withdrawal periods are very short, 1 or 2 days. Some are longer, 7-10 days. Some are even longer, up to weeks.

The withdrawal period must be determined for every species of animal the antibiotic can be used on. If the antibiotic can be used in a lactating (milking) animal, the withdrawal period must be determined for both meat and milk. (The withdrawal period for milk is usually shorter than the withdrawal period for meat.) All this testing must be completed before the antibiotic is available for sale.

What Is The Withdrawal Period for Antibiotics, and Why Does It Matter? from My Fearless Kitchen. Every medicine that is given to animals, including antibiotics, has a withdrawal period. Farmers must follow these withdrawal times to be sure no antibiotics are in our food.

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Why Does the Withdrawal Period Matter?

These are two very important ways that farmers contribute to food safety every single day. First, by monitoring which medications they give to their animals, how much they give, and when they give it. Second, by maintaining accurate records and sticking to the withdrawal period. There are layers of monitoring in place to make sure that farmers are doing their due diligence and taking care of their animals, their families, and your families.

It simply takes time for the body to break antibiotics (or any medication) down to a form where the medicines are no longer functional and leave the body. This is why withdrawal periods are so important. Following withdrawal periods means that we know there are no traces of antibiotics in the meat or milk you buy at the grocery store. It means that we know that you and your families are not exposed to “extra” or unnecessary antibiotics. It means that farmers are doing everything they can to prevent the development of antibiotic resistance.

4 More Ways to Take the Fear Out of Food

  • How Do I Know There Are No Antibiotics In My Food?
  • How Do Farmers Keep Antibiotics Out Of My Food?
  • Are There Antibiotics In My Milk?
  • Are There Antibiotics In My Meat?

3 Recipes To Try

  • T-Bone Steak with Compound Butter
  • Honey Mustard Baked Ham
  • Turkey & Dumplings

More In-Depth Information About Antibiotics and Food

  • United States Standards for Livestock & Meat Marketing Claims
  • FDA’s Approval Process for Food Animal Antibiotics
  • Antibiotic Use in Livestock Production: Ensuring Meat Safety
  • Fact or Fiction? Common Antibiotic Myths

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Filed Under: Antibiotics, Where is My Food From? Tagged With: antibiotic use, antibiotics, antibiotics in animals, antibiotics in livestock, antibiotics in meat, antibiotics in milk, beef, chicken, food, food safety, meat, milk, pork, poultry, turkey, withdrawal, withdrawal period, withdrawal time

« How Do Farmers Keep Antibiotics Out Of My Food?
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Trackbacks

  1. Breaking Down the Top 5 Food Myths - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    09/13/2017 at 1:35 pm

    […] detailed records of the antibiotics they administered. Farmers also need to follow established withdrawal periods after giving antibiotics to their animals. If they don’t follow these rules, they can be […]

  2. What Happens When Farm Animals Raised to be "No Antibiotics Ever" Get Sick? - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    09/20/2017 at 4:26 pm

    […] antibiotics. On a traditional farm, an animal treated with antibiotics needs to wait through the withdrawal period, usually in the sick pen, but then goes back to the herd once she is feeling better and the […]

  3. Why Do They Do That? – Antibiotics | Iowa Agriculture Literacy says:
    02/27/2018 at 5:17 pm

    […] the animal’s system. The time that it takes for the antibiotic to break down is known as the withdrawal period. Different antibiotics will have different withdrawal times and interact a little differently in […]

  4. Ag Myth 1: Antibiotics in Animal Products - Good Animals says:
    04/06/2018 at 11:47 am

    […] What Is The Withdrawal Period for Antibiotics, and Why Does It Matter? […]

  5. Five Ways to Piss of an Animal Scientist – Bakera5 says:
    04/08/2018 at 3:39 pm

    […] in its system. The USDA and FDA have set standards that require the observation of proper withdrawal times in all animals that receive antibiotics. Which means that all of your meat is free of […]

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