Antibiotics In Milk Testing Review
                     Antibiotics In Milk Testing Review
Labtek Services
Antibiotics in Milk Testing – the Milk 
Supply Chain
In August 2015 the Food Standards Agency FSA issued guidance on testing of milk for antibiotic 
residues which provided information for the milk supply chain on best practice for the detection 
of antibiotics in raw milk.
https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/testmilkantibioticres.pdf
From the farm to the dairy processor it is a legal requirement that antibiotics do not enter the 
food chain and face major penalties if bulk milk is found to be contaminated with Antibiotics, but 
why should our milk not contain antibiotics?
Why Should Our Milk Not 
Contain Antibiotics?
1) Antibiotics in milk can cause sensitivity and allergic reactions for some people
2) Long term increased exposure to antibiotics in milk and the general food chain will 
make the antibiotic less effective as the bacteria build up resistance which can cause 
major problems for future generations as we need a defence against harmful bacteria
How Do Antibiotics Enter 
The Dairy Supply Chain
1) Fresh calvers — cows treated with dry cow antibiotics calve early and 
are milked into the vat before the withholding period has ended.
2)  Dried off cows — a surprising number of recently treated dried off 
cows somehow return to the main herd unnoticed by the milkers and are 
milked into the vat.
3) Other antibiotic treatments — most antibiotics have a withholding 
period. Many enter the bloodstream so footrot treatments and even small 
injected doses for pinkeye can lead to antibiotic residues in the milk.
 Milk Antibiotic Test and 
Identification Systems
i) food business operators must initiate procedures to ensure that raw milk is not placed 
on the market if it contains antibiotic residues in excess of regulated limits (Maximum 
Residue Limit – MRL);
ii) a representative number of random samples of raw milk collected from milk                 
 production holdings be tested for compliance with the requirement of (i) above.
iii)   food business operators must inform the competent authority where the milk does not  
  meet the requirement of (i) and take corrective measures.
Test Devices Difficult To Read 
Introducing The Incubator Reader
The latest advancement in antibiotic testing is the introduction of Incubator 
Readers, although both test types listed above are simple to complete it has 
been noted by numerous customer’s they were sometimes difficult to read or 
confirm the colour change.
A number of manufacturers especially in the rapid test sector responded to 
customer demand by introducing an Incubator Reader which incubated and read 
the test device at the same time. The incubator reader used photo imaging to 
remove user doubt when reading the test, as well as an improvement in test time 
to about 3-6mins per test.
Thanks
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