Vet World Vol.17 March Article - 25
Research Article
Veterinary World, 17(3): 720-727
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.720-727
Antibiotic residues and microbial contamination in pasteurized whole milk intended for human consumption
1 Center of Natural and Renewable Resources, La Salada. National Learning Service - SENA, Research Group La Salada, Government of Colombia. Caldas, Colombia.
2 Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences Faculty, Research Group GIsCA, University Vision de las Americas, Medellin, Colombia.
3 Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation - AGROSAVIA. Obonuco Research Center, Pasto, Colombia.
Background and Aim: Milk contamination for human consumption is one of the biggest concerns worldwide. To prevent milk contamination, it is important to implement sustainable production practices that ensure animal health and guarantee veterinary drugs have been used properly. This study aimed to detect antibiotic residues and microbial contamination in commercially available pasteurized whole milk intended for human consumption.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on all brands of pasteurized milk (n = 17) for human consumption in Medellin, Colombia, from February 30 to April 30, 2022. Six milk samples of each brand were collected every 15 days, resulting in 102 samples. IDEXX SNAPduo ST Plus test (IDEXX Laboratories Inc, Maine, USA) was used to detect cephalosporins residues to detect beta-lactam and tetracyclines. We detected mesophilic aerobic bacteria and coliforms using Chromocult Coliform Agar (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) and Plate-Count Agar (Merck KGaA), respectively.
Results: Beta-lactam residues were found in 24.4% of the brands. No tetracyclines or cephalosporins were detected. Mesophilic aerobic bacteria and coliform contamination were detected in 42.6% and 12.8% of the brands, respectively. No fecal coliform contamination was detected.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the presence of antibiotic residues and microbial contamination in commercially available pasteurized whole milk intended for human consumption in the study area, highlighting its potential public health implications.
Keywords: biological contamination, cow milk, drug residues, food safety.
How to cite this article: Londono-Carmona J, Blandon-Escobar S, Montoya-Zuluaga J, Betancourt-Chaves P, Castillo-Moreno S, Arboleda-Munera C, and Vallejo-Timaran D (2024) Antibiotic residues and microbial contamination in pasteurized whole milk intended for human consumption, Veterinary World, 17(3): 720-727.
Received: 27-10-2023 Accepted: 28-02-2024 Published online: 25-03-2024
Corresponding author: E-mail:
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.720-727
Copyright: Londono-Carmona, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
