Chemical agents of special concern in livestock meat production

Abstract

A large number of drugs are available for use in veterinary medicine. Numerous groups are used in livestock and could therefore appear as residues in both meat and edible tissues for human consumption. The amount, frequency and risk associated to their use and the impact on human health, have been the criteria to consider them of special concern in meat production. Accordingly, antibacterials are widely used in animal production for therapeutic, and in some countries as prophylactic and growth promoting proposes. The transfer of antibiotic resistant bacteria from animals to humans is the major concern associated to its not rational use. Anthelmintic drugs are used to control different parasite diseases caused by helminths, a serious and common problem in livestock to such an extent that these drugs are traditionally used in the farming and one of the most widely administered veterinary livestock drugs in most countries. Anti-inflammatory drugs are used to a lesser extent in food-producing animals. However, due to their usefulness in various pathologies, alone or in combination with antibiotics, they have been considered, since their residues can also have an impact on human health. Finally, the use of β-agonists, drugs used for a long time in the treatment of respiratory diseases and as tocolytic in animals, has been considered in this chapter regarding its activity as growth promoters in many meat production animal species. Accordingly, some particular drugs of the group such as ractopamine have been described as a source of public concern, because their use as growth promoter in animals has raised a worldwide dispute.