The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is assessing whether antibiotics residue is detected in cattle intended for the “raised without antibiotics” market.
The sampling program is part of USDA’s effort announced earlier this summer to strengthen the substantiation of animal-raising claims. FSIS will collect liver and kidney samples from eligible cattle and the Agricultural Research Service will analyze the samples using a method that is able to detect more than 180 veterinary drugs. If antibiotic residues are detected, FSIS will notify the establishment and advise them to conduct a root cause analysis and make sure no misbranded products are shipped out.
The results of the assessment program will inform FSIS of whether it should require laboratory testing to be submitted to use the “raised without antibiotics” claim or whether the agency should start a new verification sampling program.
