Farmers are known to use antibiotic medication in animal production for the treatment and prevention of animal diseases. However, consumers around the world have grown concerned about the food, especially meat products, they put into their bodies.
Is there a cause for concern?
Food For Mzansi spoke to food safety specialist Tamsin Mzozoyana of Krystal Consulting to find out more. She delves deep into the intricate details of medicating animals and even crops. In the interview, Mzozoyana explains how Mzansi’s meat products are regulated and therefore safe for human consumption.
She also warns farmers against using too much medication, pointing out that a lack of knowledge or following specifications, could easily lead to human sickness and even fatalities.
Sinenhlanhla Ngwenya: Do animals really need antibiotics? And what are the risks?
Tamsin Mzozoyana: I would say that it depends on what the farmer’s end goal is. If your animals are sick, for example, if you have a bull with an infection, the only thing that can heal a sick animal is medicine which can include antibiotics. Then, you would treat the animal with the means of that specific medicine. With each medicine, there are specific instructions on how to administer, and when to withdraw the medication.
In the confines of administering specific medicine properly, then antibiotics are not a problem for me. However, when being overused, you introduce a different challenge, resistant crops and herds, so you administer it to a certain point; it’s obviously animal/livestock dependent.
The question becomes, do you claim to farm organically? You can still use the medication in the confines, however for organic or free-range animals there are different requirements, and there are different legislation and regulatory requirements. Are you making product claims and can they be proven with available results?
In general, we will all have outbreaks of certain diseases. It’s like a human, you have a farmer in contact with people who have stronger or weaker immune systems than you, and that person is going to get sick, and they need to be treated. But they need to be treated responsibly.
Do all animal products contain antibiotic residue?
This is unfortunately only an answer I can better give a comment on after investigating the statement. If antibiotics are used responsibly and in accordance with the veterinarian, the residue level should be below that of the regulation (Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, agricultural remedies and stock remedies Act) 36 or 1947.
The withdrawal period that the animal must go through before slaughtering is crucial.
Withdrawal periods are animal dependent and it needs to be enforced by the farmer, taking into consideration the advice of a vet. This period is dependent on the type of medication administered and when the slaughtering or consumption of said animal will be.
In South Africa, we do have a very strict withdrawal period, and the abattoir or client will always check if that withdrawal period has been adhered to.
You can either be labelled as someone who does not adhere to regulations, and they will not accept your product. That is most likely what will happen if you do not bring certain information to the abattoir. They need to be sure that you stick to the rules. This is either to slaughter or for retail. A farmer will be given a specification in terms of what the withdrawal period is. This is very similar to crop production.
ALSO READ: Farmer access to antibiotics ‘revised’ in South Africa
What’s the worst-case scenario here?
Remember that time when we feared eating polony? You don’t need to look far. South Africa is a case study of our own, we have had the biggest listeria outbreaks that a lot of the countries have had. It influenced how a lot of companies regulate their products now.
A mother who was pregnant at the time of listeria ate infected food and contracted listeriosis, which she then passed onto her unborn child. The child now lives with a disability.
The risk is very, very high and a lot of the time when I give training, I emphasise this to my smallholder clients. I tell them that commercial farmers have deeper pockets than them, and it is important that they are aware of the risks. They don’t even have business insurance because they are smallholder farmers.
That is why I advocate for having a proper food safety system in place because it will mitigate so many risks and dangers.
How is the use of antibiotics regulated in South Africa, who controls it and what does the law say?
I’m not an expert on the regulation, but we do have the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947 for reference. From a product perspective, we have additional regulations as well. Products are regulated by their respective departments.
The Medicines and Related Substances Control Act no. 101 of 1965 intends to provide for the registration of certain medicines, and veterinarians and production facilities are responsible for the usage of products in the specific industry. Product-specific requirements from the clients are to be considered over and above the regulatory requirements.
Antibiotic usage is regulated by numerous departments and there are many synergies to the regulatory requirements in the various departments. South Africa has such a robust regulatory system, however, the challenge lies in adhering to the regulations and implementing them.
Let’s be honest, how safe and healthy is our food, especially meat, in SA?
I want to say that our food is quite safe, and this is because we have very strict regulations, especially if you look at it from a global food security perspective. We rank quite high on our regulatory framework and I want to take it to food safety as well. But it depends on where you buy your product.
If I buy from Tamsin, who has a small farm and she is not adhering to any of the safety practices, chances are you’re going to encounter a hazard and potential risk. The risk is a bit higher than when you buy from a commercial farmer who has their systems of compliance in place.
It’s all relevant to where you are sampling from. We had a case study where samples were taken from different farms and they were tested, the results we found were shocking in terms of the number of micro-organisms that were present. This included commercial farms as well.
I think as a country we have built up a lot of immunity because we like street food, bra! We love street food! We don’t get sick from buying from a vendor on the street. However if someone from a foreign country eats the same food, chances are that they will experience something different. Our diverse cultures afford us access to a vast variety of foods and we are spoiled for choice as South Africans.
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