Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Food Animal Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #359635
Research Project: Detection and Fate of Chemical and Biological Residues in Food and Environmental Systems

Location: Food Animal Metabolism Research

Title: Assessment of veterinary drugs present in pork kidney purchased from a Midwest US retail market

Author
item Shelver, Weilin
item McGarvey, Amy

Submitted to: Food Additives & Contaminants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/2019
Publication Date: 4/1/2019
Citation: Shelver, W.L., Mcgarvey, A.M. 2019. Assessment of veterinary drugs present in pork kidney purchased from a Midwest US retail market. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A. 36(4):571-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2019.1586455.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2019.1586455

Interpretive Summary: The purpose of this study was to determine the occurrence of 4 commonly used animal health drugs in pork kidneys bought from retail markets. Of 1040 pork kidneys screened for antibiotic residues only six samples (0.6%) tested positive. Of the 278 kidneys tested for four other approved animal health drugs, detection rates of 1-37% occurred, but in every case concentrations of the four chemicals were substantially lower than concentrations allowed by regulatory agencies. The highest rate of detection occurred for a commonly used feed additive with no pre-slaughter withdrawal period. Collectively these data confirm that concentrations of detectable veterinary drug residues in pork products are well below regulatory thresholds.

Technical Abstract: A total of 1040 pork kidneys were purchased from 4 retail stores located in a Midwestern U.S. town and screened for antibiotics with the Charm-KIS™ screening test. Six samples (0.6%) tested positive with the Charm-KIS™. Sixty-five samples from each retail location and the 18 Charm-KIS™ positive or “caution” samples were also subjected to ELISA to determine the presence of commonly used veterinary drugs including flunixin, ractopamine, sulfamethazine, and/or tetracycline. Of the 278 samples assessed by ELISA, flunixin, ractopamine, sulfamethazine, and tetracycline residues were found to be 0%, 22%, 4%, and 10% ELISA positive respectively and had greater than limit of quantitation concentrations as measured by LC-MS/MS. All residue levels determined by LC-MS/MS were well below U.S. tolerances, regardless of analyte. These findings suggest that veterinary drugs are being used in accordance with U.S. regulations and that veterinary drug residues in pork do not pose a health concern to U.S. consumers.