Veterinary drug residues in meat: Concerns and rapid methods for detection.
The use of substances having hormonal or thyreostatic action as well as β-agonists is banned in the European Union. However, sometimes forbidden drugs may be added to feeds for illegal administration to farm animals for promoting increased muscle development or increased water retention and thus obtain an economical benefit. The result is a fraudulent overweight of meat but, what is worse, residues of these substances may remain in meat and may pose a real threat to the consumer either through exposure to the residues, transfer of antibiotic resistance or allergy risk. This has exerted a great concern among European consumers. The control of the absence of these forbidden substances in anim…