Rapid Test Kits Used to Identify Antibiotic Residues in Milk and Their Reliability

Antibacterial drugs are the most widely use drug group in the veterinary medicine. These drugs pass to the milk at various levels. There are many commercial kits available for screening residue in the milk. These kits can be classified as microbiological, immunochemical and biosensors according to the working principles. Commercial test kits can give false-positive results due to the following reasons; the presence of natural antibacterial substances in colostrum and mastitic milk, high somatic cell count and pH in mastitis, presence of high fat, fatty acid and protein in milk, detergent and disinfectant residues in milk, storage and preservative conditions of milk samples, duration of incubation in microbiological methods, presence of antiparasitic drug residues in milk, visual interpretation of test results instead of device. Chromatographic analyse methods are the most reliable method for identifying and validating residues of antibacterial. Antibiotics and other chemicals are screened in animal food by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in Turkey for last 11 years with "Residue Monitoring Program"