Residue Phobia, Residue Avoidance and the Real World

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to deal with food safety and veterinary therapeutic issues from the consumer, veterinarian and pharmaceutical industry perspective. We start with problems the food animal veterinary practitioner faces concerning the choice of therapeutic agents. Next, safety issues concerning these agents are dealt with, in an attempt to provide background information on the approval process for therapeutic agents that are used in lactating dairy cattle. We build on the safety issues by describing how residue testing is done by the dairy industry. And finally, the Upjohn Company's injectable antibiotic, Naxcel® Sterile powder (Ceftiofur sodium), is used as example of how new generation therapeutic agents can be developed and approved under guidelines that meet the consumer's need for safe dairy products and still provide the veterinarian with efficacious treatments for their patients.