Residues of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics in meat

Antibiotics and chemotherapeutics in food may only be present in concentrat ions below a toxicologically approved level. To check the established limit s laboratories depend on reliable methods: on the one hand rapid and inexpe nsive screening tests (biological and immunological methods), on the other hand rather costly but very specific chemical-analytical reference methods. The results of residue testing in a big slaughter plant are presented. Res idues of antibiotics were mainly found in calves. The most frequently detec ted drugs were tetracyclines, sulfonamides and aminoglycosides.