Use of Antibiotic Residue Test Kits for Goat Milk

Mastitis is known as the most common disease syndrome in the dairy industry. Treating mastitic lactating animals with antibiotics is a veterinary practice to cure the disease. However, the antibiotic used may persist in the milk for a period of time depending on drug selected, dosage applied, route administered, body weight of the animal treated, etc. Antibiotic residues in milk are of great concern to dairy farmers, milk processors, consumers and regulatory agencies. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established tolerance (safe) levels of antibiotic residues in milk for consumer protection (Table 1). Antibiotic residues in goat milk exceeding tolerance levels not only present potential health risks to the consumer but also interfere with milk product processing such as cheese manufacturing.