Monitoring and risk assessment of tetracycline residues in foods of animal origin

Abstract

A total of 450 samples consisting of red meat, poultry meat, aquatic product and raw milk were collected during winter 2016 and summer 2017. 22.2% (100/450) of collected meat and raw milk samples were found to be contaminated with antibiotic residues in the initial screening using Premi®test. According to the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results, the mean tetracyclines (TCs) concentration of meat samples determined as follows: chicken (155.41 µg/kg) > turkey (138.68 µg/kg) > quail (130.7 µg/kg) > cow (108.92 µg/kg) > calf (105.18 µg/kg) > goat (99.4 µg/kg) > sheep (95.22 µg/kg) > rainbow trout (35.62 µg/kg) > shrimp (31.80 µg/kg). The content of TCs in cow, goat and sheep milk samples were found to be ranged 45.6–163.5 µg/L, 72.4–101.1 µg/L and 65.5–98.9 µg/L, respectively. 5.7% (26/450) of samples had TCs confirmed the ELISA results using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-violet detection, although the concentration of TCs residues in samples was higher than that of ELISA.