Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:00 pm Post subject: What other animals are eating

What other animals are eating

Sunday November 5, 2006

Source: The Star

POULTRY

Antibiotics are sometimes used in chickens to treat bacterial infec tions or to produce meat and eggs more efficiently.

However, long-term use of antibiotics in animals is believed to build up resistant strains of bac teria. Humans could ingest these resistant bacteria when they con sume the meat. When they fall ill, the usual antibiotics used to treat these illnesses don’t work against the resistant bacteria. This is a big public health concern worldwide.

For example, the US FDA has banned the antibiotic, enrofloxacin, as data has showed that “the use of enrofloxacin in poultry caused resistance in Campylobacter, a bacterium that causes foodborne illness.”

In Malaysia, two antibiotics have been banned: nitrofuran and chloramphenicol. Other antibiotics that are permitted under the 15th Schedule in the Food Regulations 1985 must not exceed the maxi mum residue limits in food.

Antibiotics are also used in other food-producing animals like cattle, sheep and swine.

CATTLE

Occasionally, beef may be conta minated with drugs used to treat cattle diseases. In October 2005, Taiwan offi cials found that some of the beef imported from New Zealand were contaminated with endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide harm ful to human health. It turns out that the New Zealand cattle com pany that produced the meat had sprayed its cattle with endosulfan to get rid of cattle ticks, causing the insecticide to be absorbed by the animals.

The use of growth hormones in animals is extremely controver sial. Back in the 1950s in the US, a hormone called diethylstilbestrol was used to promote growth in cattle and sheep. However, the hormone has since been linked to vaginal cancers and was banned by the US for use in people and animals in the 1970s.

FISH

Although farmed fish are not fed drugs to make them grow better, they may contain other medica tions that are used to treat sea lice infections.

In 2004, a Canadian environ mental group, The Raincoast Conservation Society, claimed that farmed salmon contained residues of a sea lice drug containing emamectin benzoate. This com pound is a possible neurotoxin, although there is not enough evi dence to confirm at what levels this compound could affect the human nervous system.

Fish are also susceptible to fun gal growth. One fungicide some times used by the aquaculture industry is malachite green. Its metabolite, leucomalachite, may persist in fish tissues for long peri ods.

Malachite green can be toxic to human cells and has been found to cause cancer in rats. However, consuming trace amounts of this substance probably carries a very low health risk.

CROPS

After reading all the above, you probably think you want to turn vegetarian. Unfortunately, vegeta bles and fruits are not immune to chemical residues either. Pesticide residue is a concern with crops, as pesticides used by farmers may remain on or in the crops after they have been har vested.

Just like drug residues in animal food products, pesticide residues have to be below the maximum residue limit as specified in the 16th Schedule of the Food Regulations 1985. To comply with these limits, farmers have to use only approved pesticides, as rec ommended.

DDT is one of the notorious pes ticides that has been banned in Malaysia. It is believed that DDT levels can accumulate in humans, and that long-term exposure may be hazardous. High levels of DDT can affect the nervous system and may lead to cancer.

References

1. Dept of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri – http://muextension.missouri.edu/xpl or/agguides/ansci/g02353.htm

2. FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine – www.fda.gov/cvm/

3. Food Safety Network (FSN) at the University of Guelph, Canada – www.foodsafetynetwork.ca

4. Pesticide Action Network – www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Count ry.jsp?Country=Malaysia

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:07 pm Post subject:

Obviously the author of that article did not read (or did not bother to read) about the reports/journals/publications wrote by the local researchers in the research in antibiotic/drug residues in Malaysia. Merely tranforming the facts from the foreign reports does not reflect the current situation of drug residues in farm animals in Malaysia.

Dr Dunker · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 464 Location: Puchong,Selangor

HOw can a so called writer write an article and send it to a major news paper without even refering to a single proper scientific paper done by researchers? Even i can just sit at home and look tru a few search engine on the net and come up with an essay (yep that is what it is, nothing more then a work of a form 5 student for an english subject project - I would not even call it a form 4 science project).

lcs · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 65

however, the thigs he wrote was not fully wrong. in EU, they now already banne the usage of antibiotic in their animal feed, but malaysia still allow our farmer to use that. the trend of banning the usage of antibiotic for sure will be come to malaysia one day. i cannot recall where i read the info, i still remember japan banned our poultry product to enter their country bacause of present of coccidiostat residue. coccidiostat is the mojor problems i our poultry industry others that antibiotic. i think research also been done to find a replacement to replace antibiotic as additive in chicken feed. belive or not, chicken is the animal who ate the most antibiotic in their life!

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:17 pm Post subject:

No I didn't say that our livestock is free from antibiotic or what not.

I'm just being irked by the way that author wrote that article. At least read some local journals/articles before publishing an article about food safety related to livestock.

Merely "transplanted" the facts from the text book and cook 'em up to publish in the the newspaper wasn't doing any good. It did not reflect the real scenario in Malaysia.