Antibiotic Residues in Food Samples Sold In Abeokuta Metropolis: A Cause for Concern

Abstract

The use of antibiotic plays a major role in the emerging public health crisis of antibiotic resistance. Although, the majority of antibiotics usage occurs in animal husbandry and relatively little attention has been paid to how these antibiotics in farm animals contribute to the overall problems of antibiotics resistance in human. This research focuses on antibiotics residues in seven different most commonly consumed food samples in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria as a case study.  These food samples are: Chicken, Eggs, Cow-meat, Cheese, Goat-meat, Pork-meat and Turkey-meat. The antibiotics tested were: tetracycline, penicillin and streptomycin. The result, however, gave an inhibition zone of 8mm, 5mm, 6mm in frozen Turkey;  Nill, 5mm, 4mm in Cow-meat; Nill, Nill, 5mm in boiled Cheese; Nill, 4mm, 5mm in frozen Pork; 6mm, 7mm , 4mm in Eggs; 5mm, 4mm, 6mm in frozen Chicken and 4mm, Nill , 5mm in Goat-meat for Tetracycline, Penicillin and Streptomycin respectively. Most of the results obtained showed relatively high amount of antibiotics residues above the permissible limit of 2mm.