Marketing and food labels can make it feel scary to make decisions about your family’s food. How do you really know there are no antibiotics in your food? You can relax, there are a lot of systems in place to make sure that doesn’t happen.
How Do I Know There Are No Antibiotics In My Food?
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I buy food for my family just like you do. I feed my growing toddler with food from the grocery store. Of course I worry about what he eats. But I never worry that he (or the rest of my family) will be exposed to antibiotics in food.
There are lots of food labels thrown around about antibiotics. And they all make antibiotics sound scary. The truth is that all of those labels are just marketing. No matter how your food was raised, it has to follow the same requirements and rules about antibiotics. Meat is tested to be sure that farmers are following the rules. These rules make it safe for you to eat meat and drink milk without worrying about “accidentally” consuming antibiotics.
Food Labels About Antibiotics
The labels on food in the grocery stores are crazy. Here are some of the more common food labels about antibiotics you might see.
- No antibiotics used or Raised without antibiotics. Food with these labels is from animals that were never given antibiotics during their lives.
- No subtherapeutic antibiotics added or Not fed antibiotics. Food with these labels is from animals that were not fed subtherapeutic levels of antibiotics (for disease prevention). They may receive higher doses of antibiotics if they became sick and needed treatment.
Remember, even if your food does not have these labels on it, farmers still have to follow the rules, and milk and meat are tested for antibiotics. Every farmer must follow the rules. If any animal is treated with antibiotics, it must not enter the food supply until the withdrawal period has passed.
Antibiotic Safety Testing
Before any antibiotic is given to animals, it goes through extensive safety testing. The antibiotic must be effective against the disease it is meant to treat (obviously). It also must be safe for the animal it is being given to. It also must be safe for people, even if it is not an antibiotic that is meant to be given to people. (Not all antibiotics that are given to animals are used for people.)
The label on the bottle must clearly state what species (animal) the antibiotic is for, how much should be used, how it should be given (injection, in the feed, or in the water), and what the withdrawal time is. The antibiotic is only allowed to be used according to the label directions, unless it is under the specific instruction of a veterinarian for a specific case. All this testing (including determining the withdrawal period) is performed for every antibiotic before it can be sold or used to treat animals.
Antibiotic Residue Testing
It is the farmer’s responsibility to maintain records of which animals were treated, which antibiotic was used, how much antibiotic was used, and when it was used. It is also the farmer’s responsibility to make sure that the withdrawal period has passed before any meat or milk enters the food chain.
At every USDA-inspected meat processor, random samples of meat are tested for antibiotics. If any meat is found with antibiotic residue, the meat is disposed of and the farmer is fined.
Every single tanker of milk is tested for antibiotics. On smaller farms, their milk might be pooled in the same tanker truck with other milk from local farms. A sample of milk is taken from each farm before it is added to the tank. Once the tank reaches the milk processor, the entire tank is tested. If antibiotic residue is found in the tank, each individual farm’s sample is tested. The entire tanker of milk is destroyed, and the farm who caused the contamination is fined and must pay for the discarded milk.
If the same farm has multiple positive tests, the farmer will get higher fines and penalities. After too many positive tests, many processors will not purchase milk or meat from them again.
So get out, get shopping, enjoy your food, and don’t worry about antibiotics. I know I sure will!
4 More Ways to Take the Fear Out of Food
- How Do Farmers Keep Antibiotics Out Of My Food?
- What is the Withdrawal Time, And Why Does It Matter?
- Are There Antibiotics In My Milk?
- Are There Antibiotics In My Meat?
3 Recipes to Try
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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