constitute a health hazard to consumers. Non-regulatory organizations, including the
veterinary pharmaceutical industry, producer organisations, veterinarians and food
processors, all contribute to a safe food supply. The food safety risk analysis frame-
work is continually refined to ensure that the health of all consumers is protected.
KeywordsRegulationVeterinaryDrugResidueFoodSafetyRisk analysis
Trade
1 Introduction
Food-borne hazards are a worldwide public health concern (FAO 2006 ). Yet
despite almost all food risks being microbiological in origin, the results of surveys
indicate a perception that food-borne chemical hazards are a significant risk to
public health (McLean 2000 ). Events such as the melamine-induced kidney damage
and fatalities in infants and in dogs and cats resulting from the incorporation of
melamine into the raw ingredients of powdered infant formula and pet food in
China in 2008 reinforce these perceptions. While this is not a drug residue issue, it
does emphasise the importance of effective food safety regulation. Unlike the
situation with food composition, where information provided on labels allows the
consumer to make an informed choice, a similar approach to chemical contamina-
tion of food is not practicable. Instead, therefore, consumers rely on regulatory
authorities to ensure that foodstuffs obtained from animals treated with veterinary
drug products do not contain drug-derived residues that might constitute a human
health hazard. Consumers also rely on residue monitoring programmes, the pub-
lished results of which provide overwhelming evidence for a safe food supply. In
recent years, the issue of veterinary drug residues in animal-derived foods has
become increasingly important in developing countries (Cannavan 2004 ). This
position is not expected to change in the short term because theper capita
consumption of meat (especially poultry) and dairy products has been estimated
to increase by as much as 44% between 2002 and 2030 (Cannavan 2004 ).
Food-borne chemical hazards are also a major cause of trade problems inter-
nationally (FAO 2006 ). In this respect, effective food safety systems support the
economic development of countries by providing a sound regulatory foundation for
domestic and international trade in food (FAO 2006 ). However, regulatory frame-
works for food safety are not consistent amongst jurisdictions. The differences in
the national maximum residue limits (MRLs) are primarily attributable to differ-
ences in the level of risk that individual governments are prepared to accept,
methodologies for establishing MRLs, and the conditions of use described in
labelling of the product. The position is compounded when MRLs have not been
established in countries where use of the veterinary drug is not approved. In order
to address this issue and to facilitate trade, some importing countries have estab-
lished “Import MRLs” for chemical–commodity combinations that are without
national MRLs. The existence of differing national standards adversely affects
266 P.T. Reeves