Abu Dhabi: "While purchasing meat and milk, if you detect the smell of a medicine or chemical in them, you should report the matter to authorities as that could be [from] antibiotics", an expert in veterinary science told Gulf News yesterday.
"Consuming meat and milk containing antibiotics can cause ‘antibiotic resistance' in humans which can lead to serious health problems", Dr Rashid Daif Allah, General Manager, Emirates Modern Poultry Company in Dubai, said.
Foolproof
Although UAE's food safety authorities have a fool-proof mechanism to check the antibiotic content in meat and milk that enters the market, customers' awareness will help the authorities, he said.
Daif Allah spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of a workshop, titled The use of antibiotics in animal production farms, organised by Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) yesterday.
Daif Allah, a speaker at the workshop, said that smell is the only indicator through which customers may be able to detect antibiotics in meat and milk, otherwise traced in the blood of animals.
"The food authorities in the UAE have sophisticated lab equipment to trace antibiotics", he said.
The ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to withstand an antibiotic to which they were once sensitive to is called antibiotic or drug resistance. According to the World Health Organisation, its consequences are severe.
Infections caused by resistant microbes, that fail to respond to treatment, result in prolonged illnesses and a greater risk of death.
Daif Allah said that the UAE food authorities ensure that animal farms follow the stipulated ‘withdrawal period' — the time antibiotics take to disappear from animals' bodies — before slaughtering or milking. "The withdrawal period is prescribed by drug manufacturers and varies from drug to drug. It is minimum three days to 10 days before slaughtering and milking, he said.
Ahmad Al Tunaiji, director of animal and plant health division, ADFCA, said that animals farms in Abu Dhabi were free from the excessive use of antibiotics.
Dr Elniema A Mustafa, head of animal health unit, ADFCA said that his unit collects samples from farms to ensure that they do not use antibiotics in excess and follow the withdrawal period before slaughtering or milking.
