Tests of milk from 2,000 dairy farms found almost all the samples — more than 99 percent — were free of drug residues, said the FDA in a constituent update. “These findings provide evidence that the nation’s milk safety system is effective in helping to prevent drug residues of concern in milk, even in those limited instances when medications are needed to maintain the health of dairy cattle,” according to the update. The agency said it would consider ways to strengthen safeguards.
The FDA conducted the study to see if dairy farms with previous residue violations were more likely than other farms to violate the drug-residue limits. Farms were put in two groups — one contained farms with previous violations and the other was a control group. “Results show that the occurrence of drug residues in milk is very low, even in the targeted group,” said the FDA. The report said drug residues were found in 0.78 percent of samples from farms with a previous violation, and 0.42 percent of samples from the control group. FDA screened for 31 antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and an antihistamine.