Screening of Fresh, Boiled and Pasteurized Milk for Aflatoxin-M Contamination and Antibiotic Residues in Pakistan

In the present study Aflatoxin M (AFM ) and various Antibiotic Residue (AbR) including 1 1 oxytetracyclin, streptomycin, gentamicin, neomycin and penicillin were comparatively evaluated through Thin-Layer Chromatographic (TLC) technique in various types of milk samples i.e. fresh, boiled and pasteurized milk samples. AFM contamination was recorded in 20% of the total fresh milk and 15% of the boiled milk It was 1 . a point of concern that most of the contaminated samples were having AFM level higher than permissible limit 1 (0.05 μg/L) reported by European Union. However on the other side 5.71% of the samples (fresh, boiled and pasteurized milk) were found contaminated with antibiotic oxytetracycline, 4.28% with gentamicin and 2.85% with penicillin. In contrast streptomycin and neomycin residues were never detected in any of the selected samples. We further observed that all the pasteurized milk samples were free of both AFM and AbR. Hence 1 at this stage, we suggest that the pasteurized milk is free of health threats.