The World Health Organisation lists antimicrobial resistance among the top 10 biggest global threats, yet the issue doesn’t receive a lot of attention on the global stage.  Edgar Garcia Manzanilla of Teagasc told Euractiv in a recent article that ““Much like climate change [it] is something that is happening, but because you don’t see it immediately happening, it’s very difficult to make people react against it,” said Garcia Manzanilla, coordinating expert of a recent report on the reduction of the use of antibiotics in poultry farming.”

The EU Farm to Fork strategy has set aims to reduce the overall EU sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and aquaculture by 50% by 2030. Some sectors have made more progress in this initiative than others, for example in poultry industry, poultry producers have decreased their use of antibiotics by up to 90%, making them a reference point for others.

However, there are contributing factors are slowing the progress of the strategy, these include; a lack of data surrounding the full scale of antibiotics being administered at farm level, the vast variety of antimicrobials in use across Europe and the countries facing sub-zero temperatures.

A way to ensure the safe supply of fresh produce to end consumers is through regular testing for antibiotic residues. This starts with farm level testing at the first sign of infection and should continue throughout the production process including testing the end product before it is supplied to retailers.

Biorex Food Diagnostics have a developed a range of diagnostic tests for the detection of antibiotics, hormones and other veterinary drug residues in meat & poultry, seafood, honey, milk, feed and nuts. The high quality, ELISA based test method delivers results accurate, reliable within a quick turnaround time.

For more information contact sales@biorexfooddiagnostics.com