Rospotrebnadzor specialists learned to identify any antibiotic in food

Antibiotics are widely used in agriculture, but if they enter the human body with food, they can lead to the development of bacterial resistance and interfere with the treatment of infections in the future. In which products antibiotics are detected most often and how to protect yourself from their effects, Aleksey Chernyshkov, HEAD of the Rospotrebnadzor Reference Center for monitoring the residual amount of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance of bacteria in food raw materials and food products of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, told Gazeta.ru.

- In what foodstuffs the norm for the content of antibiotics was exceeded most often over the past year?

- These are MILK and dairy products, MEAT and products from it, poultry, eggs and products of their processing. In other food raw materials and products, the excess of the permissible levels of antibiotics was revealed in isolated cases.

- How often were antibiotics detected in products and was there an excess of the norm? And how big was it?

– In milk and dairy products in 2021 (data for 2022 are not yet available), antibiotics were detected in 2.68% of samples, the norm was exceeded by 0.14%, in meat and meat products the detection was 1.92%, the excess was 0, 09%, in poultry, eggs and products of their processing detection 1.8%, excess 0.02%.

- That is, if we talk about excess, we are talking about tenths of a percent. Can such an excess be dangerous for the consumer?

- The standards for the content of antibiotics include a certain "margin of safety." But although antibiotics are found in a small number of samples and the excess of acceptable levels is negligible, it still carries risks. Consumption of products containing antibiotics, even in acceptable amounts, can lead to their accumulation in the body and occasionally to increased resistance of microorganisms and the development of allergic reactions.

Exceeding the levels, even insignificant ones, can much more often cause the development of microbial resistance. In the future, this may lead to the fact that the use of antimicrobials in the treatment of bacterial infections may not be effective for humans.

How can consumers protect themselves in this case?

- In fact, if there are antibiotics in food within acceptable limits, there is generally nothing to be afraid of. You can use such products without fear, especially after heat treatment. Another question is if manufacturers will use antibiotics more actively, and we will observe a systematic excess of the norms. Care must be taken with such products.

Heat treatment is just one of the ways to reduce the content of antibiotics in the product.

It is better to buy products from large manufacturers. Although it is not mandatory to test products for antibiotic content, the manufacturer may choose to do so. And, if the manufacturer cares about his image and wants the consumer to be confident in his products, he will definitely conduct such a study.

— Rospotrebnadzor is analyzing 14 groups of antibiotics, which include 91 drugs. Are they all used in animal husbandry and production?

- In reality, 10-15 funds are used. But still, we need to test products for all drugs in case someone decides to use them too. Much depends on the equipment of a particular laboratory of the Centers for Hygiene and Epidemiology - some of them determine only 10-15 main antibiotics, some - all 91. Each federal district has support bases where tests are carried out for the largest possible number of antibiotics.

— Has the share of antibiotics in products changed compared to last year? And what are the trends in their use in general?

- The content of antibiotics has increased, but not significantly. In milk in 2020, antimicrobials were detected in 1.86% of samples, in meat - in 1.67%, in poultry - in 0.8%. If we consider a longer period of time, the detection remains stable. There are small fluctuations from year to year, somewhere towards an increase in the content of antibiotics, somewhere towards a decrease, but in general the situation does not change.

Более частое выявление антибиотиков можно объяснить еще и тем, что растет количество исследований и их качество, применяются более современные и чувствительные методы. Так, методом хроматографического анализа выявление происходит более точно, чем иммуноферментным. И, возможно, за счет этого идет некоторое увеличение. А так, в принципе, концентрации антибиотиков и частота превышения доз препаратов в исследуемых продуктах практически не меняются.

— Наиболее часто выявляются антибиотики тетрациклинового и пенициллинового ряда, хлорамфеникол и его производные. С чем это связано? Разве препараты пенициллинового ряда еще не устарели?

Penicillins are a very large group of antimicrobials. It includes aminopenicillins, cephalosporins and a number of others. Cephalosporins have several generations of drugs, the first and second are really almost never used either in medicine or in veterinary medicine, but the third and fourth are actively used. There are also many tetracycline preparations, they are effective against a wide range of bacteria. In general, the prevalence of certain groups of drugs is associated simply with a large number of items included in these groups.

— New tests to detect antibiotics are introduced every year. How does this affect the detection statistics? Is there any noticeable increase after the appearance of the new test?

— The introduction of new tests is rather a preventive measure, so that we can determine such a drug if necessary. In addition, it is important for the development of the scientific and methodological base of the laboratories of the Centers for Hygiene and Epidemiology, scientific institutions, for the training of employees. That is, this does not mean that the emergence of a new test will necessarily immediately lead to greater detection of antibiotics.

— Are there any antibiotics that Rospotrebnadzor tests do not catch?

- Not. Since in agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry farming, as we have already said, a rather narrow set of drugs is used.

Their spectrum can sometimes expand, but if we have a task, we can identify any antibiotic.

- Where in RUSSIA is the excess of antibiotic content more often observed?

- These are the North Caucasian, Siberian, Far Eastern Federal Districts. The excess may be due both to the fact that antibiotics are actually used more actively there, and to improved testing, so far the exact reason cannot be named.

- What happens to the product when Rospotrebnadzor detects an excess of antibiotics in it?

- The territorial Offices of Rospotrebnadzor are engaged in taking some measures and issuing recommendations based on the results of the research.