**4.2 Management practices that could be adopted in the dairy industries**


## **4.3 Ensuring the production of beef and milk products that are free of antibiotic residues**

In the developed countries such as the USA, most dairy farmers do accept responsibility for the safety of the milk and beef produced from their farms [22]. The linkage between farm production practices and the quality of processed products could however be weak.

In order to ensure the production of beef and milk products that are free of antibiotic residues, the beef and dairy cattle farmers should adhere to the antibiotic drugs withdrawal times as specified on the label use of the drug manufacturer [27].

Again, meat and milk samples should be collected from individual the beef and dairy animals and also from the milk bulk tanks and tested for presence of antibiotic residues. The observation of the antibiotic treatments withdrawal period specified is very important as this could dictate the need to discard milk or withhold the cattle from slaughter in order to ensure drug residues are below the determined maximum residue limit allowed by the food and drug administration (FDA) after an animal has received an antibiotic treatment [28]. These previous researchers [28] emphasized that it is important to ensure that meat, milk and milk products are of high quality, safe and free of antibiotic residues before being sent out for human consumption and these could go a long way in enhancing food safety and food security.
