Should I be concerned about antibiotics in the milk I drink?

Q: Should I be concerned about antibiotics in the milk I drink?
A: You should not be concerned because no milk should contain antibiotics.

You and your family should always expect safe, wholesome milk from my dairy cows and other dairy cows throughout the United States. Rest assured, anyone who consumes milk or dairy products can feel extremely safe because of the multiple safeguards in place by the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration to ensure no antibiotics are in any dairy products consumed.

Dairy farmers adhere to strict quality standards and follow safeguards.

Bill Deutsch is a fifth generation dairy and grain farmer from Sycamore. He milks cows and grows corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa, with his brother, Pat. Bill and his wife, Chris, reside on the family farm. They have four adult children: Sarah, Mary, Rachel and Paul.

Each tank of raw milk on a dairy farm is sampled by the milk company. Then the milk is sampled again when the milk truck arrives at its first destination; a composite sample of milk is taken from the truck. If any antibiotics are detected the milk is discarded. The individual milk samples from each farm will identify which farm contained the antibiotic. Dairy farmers follow strict quality standards. The milk produced on their farm is their badge of honor and their reputation for quality milk is at stake.

On our farm we have multiple safeguards to ensure antibiotics never enter the food chain. First off, we do treat animals if they are sick so they can get better. We only use antibiotics if needed for the health of our animals.

For those cows receiving an antibiotic, we single them out by putting a band on the cow and moving her to a separate pen. We document treatment in a logbook. We also make sure a list of all treated cows is visible on our large white board with the cows name and information for all workers to see. We milk this pen last after all cows are done milking and the milk pipelines are disconnected from the bulk tank. This milk is usually dumped down the drain.

Cows must go through an antibiotic withdrawal period before their milk is used.

When the cow is done being treated and has gone through the normal antibiotic withdrawal period (from 3 days to 30 days, depending on the medicine) we will send in a sample to make sure all antibiotics are out of the cow’s system. The dairy laboratory, certified by the Department of Agriculture, will call us with the results each day and tell us when the cow is clear of antibiotics.

Once the cow is clear of any antibiotics we will move her back into the regular milking string so her milk will once again go into the milk tank. The bottom line is that it is illegal to have any antibiotics in milk.

Article from the DeKalb County Farm Bureau Connections Publication