Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

Dairy farmers produce milk and meat for everyone. They are the first line of defense when it comes to food safety.

One of the safeguards that can help them make certain dairy and beef products are wholesome is the Meatsafe Test Kit.

The simple cow urine test provides a double check that a cow does not have penicillin in its system or tissues.

“It's a 10-minute urine test that doesn't require any incubation or sample preparation, so it's very easy to use,” said Tom Round, vice president of sales and marketing for Silver Lake Research Corporation.

Silver Lake Research is based out of Monrovia, Calif., and the company introduced the product in 1999.

The Meatsafe Beta-Lactam test identifies animals that no longer have Amoxicillin, Ampicillin, Cloxacillin, Hetacillin or Penicillin drug residues.

In trials performed by Silver Lake Research, Meatsafe Beta-Lactam reliably predicted those animals that would pass/not pass the tissue residue tests performed by the Food Safety Inspection Service at a processing facility.

Here's how the test works:

Urine is collected from the cow.

Four drops of urine are dispensed into a sample well on a Meatsafe Beta-Lactam card.

After 10 minutes, one or two blue lines will appear in the result window.

If no lines appear, or both lines are very faint, the test is not valid.

In borderline samples, tests that are negative after 10 minutes may appear positive after 15 minutes or more. These samples are considered negative.

If line one is darker than line two, the sample is negative.

If line one is the same or lighter than line two, the sample is positive. This animal may have illegal levels of drug residue in its tissues.

Silver Lake Research is marketing the Meatsafe Test Kit in three ways. The test kits are marketed to veterinarians, processing facilities and directly to dairy operations.

“If you are testing for the Beta-Lactam penicillin, you can be assured if you produce a negative result, you're not going to test positive at slaughter for these drugs,” said Round. “Our test is not going to detect sulfa or other types of drugs. You have to be aware of the types of drugs you are using to use this product effectively.”

The Meatsafe Beta-Lactam test is $3.95 per test and sold in boxes of 10 tests.

“Producers are very happy about the price,” Round said. “We have loyal customers across the country. Producers have been using the test for almost 10 years.

“We pick up customers every month through veterinary associations or processing facilities that send out information on our behalf,” he said.

Helping dairy producers learn about the Meatsafe Test Kit is one goal of the dairy beef residue avoidance team.

This educational campaign to stop drug residue violations is led by the University of Minnesota Extension beef team.

The responsible use of antibiotics includes:

€Developing written treatment protocols with the veterinarian.

€Treating the fewest number of animals possible.

€Withholding treated animals or animal products for the recommended length of time.

€Using a test for meat or milk drug residues if needed.

€Understanding extra-label drug use.

“Tests should not be a replacement for record keeping,” said Ron Eustice, executive director of the Minnesota Beef Council. “The test could provide feedback as you complete your written treatment protocols. The test can be an additional tool to supplement what you already have done to assure a safe beef supply,” he said.

Susan McClanahan, D.V.M. and assistant clinical professor in Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, says dairy producers benefit from this testing option.

“Penicillin is a common drug used in dairy cattle, so this is a nice test kit to monitor for penicillin residues,” McClanahan said.

“If a producer had treated a cow with penicillin for pneumonia or mastitis, this is just a way to ensure she has cleared it from her body,” she said.

McClanahan always reminds the public that the United States has an extremely safe food supply. USDA inspectors conduct many meat safety tests in processing facilities.

“We just want to be sure that 100 percent of our animals are healthy, so this test is just a way to ensure that,” McClanahan said.

“The food we consume in the United States is the safest food in the whole wide world.”