Dietary exposure assessment of streptomycin and tetracycline in food of animal origin on the Croatian market.

ABSTRACT

Residual antibacterials in food constitute a risk to human health, particularly because they can contribute to the transmission of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria through the food chain. This paper presents dietary exposure assessment of streptomycin and tetracycline, based on combining food consumption data in Croatia with data on the concentration of veterinary drugs in analysed samples of food of animal origin. According to the median values, the estimated daily intake of streptomycin and tetracycline through food is 11.9 and 0.7 µg/person/day, respectively. The largest contribution to streptomycin intake comes from meat (4.8 µg/person/day, i.e. 41%), but milk is the largest source for tetracycline (0.3 µg/person/day, i.e. 46%). The estimated dietary exposure to these veterinary drugs does not exceed relevant toxicological reference values and the level of exposure is assessed to be acceptable.