PUTRAJAYA: The Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) is constantly monitoring and controlling the use of antibiotics in animal feed, as part of the national monitoring system.
DVS deputy director-general (veterinary service) Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam since 2010, only 0.13 per cent of five out of 3,750 livestock food samples showed positive signs of permitted antibiotics.
“Samples of livestock products and feed to detect the presence of antibiotics on the use and misuse of antibiotics in livestock are monitored by DVS.
“Antibiotics are used in the treatment and cure of diseases. A low dosage is mixed in animal feed to prevent infection, help digestion and stomach absorption to improve growth performance and quality of livestock products.
“Antibiotics is used in rations during the early stages for commercial and intensive livestock breeding and not used within a certain period before the product is marketed,” he said in a statement today.
Dr Quaza said this in response to Consumers Association of Penang's (CAP) call to ban antibiotics use in animal feed.
CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said there was also evidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the many food products sold in Malaysia, suggesting frozen burger patties showed the presence of listeria monocytogenes in nearly half of the samples.
To this, Dr Quaza said contamination of listeria monocytogenes in frozen burger products as reported recently could be caused by water or soil pollution and not from livestock.