Wednesday, 25 November 2015
This factsheet is intended for food business operators and other interested parties, particularly in the sector of foods of animal origin.
Veterinary medicines are substances used to treat and prevent disease in animals and thus have the potential to enter the food chain through their occurrence as residues in food.
Animals may also be exposed to a range of other chemicals such as pesticides and environmental contaminants (organohalogens, chemical elements, mycotoxins, etc.) occurring in air, soil, water or in feed. A further category of substances of potential concern is growth promoting agents and non-approved veterinary medicines that are prohibited for use in food-producing animals. It is of critical importance that residues of veterinary medicines, contaminants and prohibited substances are either not present in animal products destined for the human food chain, or are present at such a level that adverse effects on the health of consumers cannot occur
