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EFSA’s data report summarises the monitoring data from 2014, including compliance rates with EU residue limits, for a range of veterinary medicines, unauthorised substances and contaminants found in animals and animal-derived food.
Overall, 730,000 samples were reported in 2014 – a drop from the 1 million plus samples in last year’s report on 2013 data – from the 28 EU Member States.
In 2014, the level of non-compliance in targeted samples (i.e. samples taken to detect illegal use or check non-compliance with the maximum levels) rose slightly – to 0.37%, compared to 0.25%-0.34% over the previous seven years.
For Group A, a low number of non-compliant samples were reported for stilbenes and derivatives (A1) in pigs (0.005%). In the group of steroids (A3), non-compliant samples (all for anabolic steroids) were found in bovines (0.06%), pigs (0.20%) and sheep and goats (0.10%). The relatively high percentage of non-compliant results in pigs was most likely the endogenous production. In the group of resorcylic acid lactones (A4), 0.46% of the samples were non-compliant for zearalanone and derivatives; the non-compliant samples were found in bovines (0.72%), pigs (0.18%) and sheep and goats (0.89%). Prohibited substances (A6) were found in 0.03% of samples. Substances identified were chloramphenicol (n = 12), nitroimidazoles (n = 4) and nitrofurans (n = 8).
For antibacterials (B1), 0.18% of the samples analysed under the Directive 96/23/EC monitoring were non-compliant. The highest frequency of non-compliant samples for antibacterials was found in honey (0.72%).
In group B2 (other veterinary drugs), the highest proportion of non-compliant samples was found for anticoccidials (B2b) (0.20%). For anticoccidials (B2b), the non-compliant samples were reported across the different species as follows; 0.02% for pigs, 0.11% for sheep and goats, 2.33% for horses, 0.20% for poultry, 0.41% for eggs, 0.71% for rabbits and 2.45% for farmed game.
For the other subgroups of B2, instances of non-compliance for anthelmintics (B2a) were reported in bovines (0.04%), pigs (0.03%), sheep and goats (0.21%), horses (0.54%) and milk (0.07%). Non-compliant samples were reported for sedatives (B2d) in pigs (0.03%).
In the group B3 (other substances and environmental contaminants), the chemical elements (B3c) had the highest overall percentage of non-compliant samples (5.41%), with cadmium, lead, mercury and copper being most frequently identified. Non-compliant samples were reported for organochlorine compounds (B3a) and organophosphorus compounds (B3b); 0.12% and 0.01%, respectively. For mycotoxins (B3d), there were non-compliant samples reported for bovines (5.78%), pigs (2.64%), horses (2.63%), poultry (1.04%), milk (0.33%) and farmed game (12.50%); with those identified being zearalenone and derivatives, ochratoxin A and aflatoxin M1.
Wednesday May 25, 2016/ EFSA/ European Union.
http://www.efsa.europa.eu
