Determination of Eleven Veterinary Drugs in Chicken Meat and Liver

An account of the occurrence of residues from veterinary drugs and contaminants in animal-derived products: a case study on Brazilian supply chains

Brazil plays an important role in ensuring its position on the international market by assuring high food safety standards for its products, and all products should meet the requirements for residues from veterinary drugs and contaminants in animal products. Statutory monitoring provides insights into the compliance of the Brazilian industry regarding these legal requirements. The objective of this study was to provide insight into the safety of Brazilian animal products by reporting the occurrence of residues from veterinary drugs and contaminants according to an analysis of an 11-year report published by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA). Between 2010 and 2021, 166,647 samples from animal-derived products were analyzed in Brazil, and 624 of those samples were non-compliant (0.37%) exceeding maximum residue limits (>MRLs) or showed the presence of prohibited substances. The most common types of substances found in the non-compliant samples were heavy metals, parasiticides, and antimicrobials, accounting for 82% of all documents from the MAPA. Among Brazilian products, the challenge related to occurrence of substances varied across the food supply chain, with highest incidence rates observed in the fish chain, followed by eggs, milk, equids, sheep/goat, honey, bovine, swine, and broilers chains in decreasing order. Considering the type of substance, heavy metals were found to be more prevalent in fish products, mainly arsenic in wild fish. The prevalence of contaminants and heavy metals decreased, while that of veterinary drugs increased in Brazilian products from 2010 to 2021. From these results, it can be concluded that the number of accidental incidents including those associated with environmental contaminants decreased over the last decade, opposed to those involving human adversaries and deliberate illegal actions, such as the abuse of veterinary drugs, increased. Future monitoring plans need to take this paradigm shift into account.

Analysis of Transfer of Tiamulin to Animal Tissue after Oral Administration: An Important Factor for Ensuring Food Safety and Environmental Protection

The administration of veterinary medicinal products containing tiamulin hydrogen fumarate (THF) leads to the appearance of the following residues in animal tissues: THF and metabolites that can be hydrolyzed to 8-α-hydroxymutilin. The marker residue for tiamulin, according to Regulation EEC 2377/90, is the sum of the metabolites that can be hydrolyzed to 8-α-hydroxymutilin. The main aim of this study was to analyze the depletion of tiamulin residues and metabolites that can be hydrolyzed to 8-α-hydroxymulinin by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in pig, rabbit and bird tissues after tiamulin administration and to determine minimum withdrawal times for products of animal origin intended for human consumption. Tiamulin was administered orally as follows: 12,000 µg/kg body weight/day for 7 days to pigs and rabbits and 20,000 µg tiamulin/kg body weight/day for 7 days to broiler chickens and turkeys. The values found for tiamulin marker residues were 3 times higher in liver than in muscle in pigs, 6 times in rabbits and 8–10 times in birds. The content of tiamulin residues in eggs from laying hens was below 1000 µg/kg at all times of analysis. The minimum withdrawal times for animal products intended for human consumption, resulting from this study, are 5 days for pigs, rabbits and turkeys, 3 days for broiler chickens and 0 days for eggs.

Agents of Campylobacteriosis in Different Meat Matrices in Brazil

We aimed to identify the prevalence of thermophilic species of Campylobacter in meats of different species available on the Brazilian commercial market and to determine the genetic diversity, antimicrobial resistance and virulence potential of the isolates. A total of 906 samples, including chicken, beef and pork carcasses and chicken and beef livers, were purchased in retail outlets, and prevalences of 18.7% (46/246), 3.62% (5/138), 10.14% (14/138), 3.62% (5/138) and 4.47% (11/132), respectively, were identified, evidencing the dissemination of genotypes in the main producing macro-regions. Of all isolates, 62.8% were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR), with resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate (49.4%), tetracycline (51.8%) and ciprofloxacin (50.6%) and co-resistance to macrolides and fluoroquinolones (37.1%). Multivirulent profiles were identified mainly in isolates from chicken carcasses (84.8%), and the emergence of MDR/virulent strains was determined in pork isolates. All isolates except those from chicken carcasses showed a high potential for biofilm formation (71.4% luxS) and consequent persistence in industrial food processing. For chicken carcasses, the general virulence was higher in C. jejuni (54.3%), followed by C. coli (24%) and Campylobacter spp. (21.7%), and in the other meat matrices, Campylobacter spp. showed a higher prevalence of virulence (57.2%). The high rates of resistance and virulence reinforce the existence of strain selection pressure in the country, in addition to the potential risk of strains isolated not only from chicken carcasses, but also from other meat matrices.