Should You Worry About Antibiotic Residues in Your Food?

Key Takeaways

Federal agencies regulate and routinely test meat, poultry, and dairy products to prevent unsafe antibiotic residues from entering the food supply.

Research on how antibiotic residues affect human health is limited, but documented risks are rare.

Taking antibiotics to treat bacterial infections can sometimes disrupt your gastrointestinal tract. While these medications target harmful bacteria, they can also wipe out the good ones.

You may have also heard concerns that antibiotics can be present in foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy.

Like humans, animals sometimes get sick and need prescription medication, including antibiotics. In the past, some antibiotics were also added to livestock feed to promote growth, although this practice has been restricted in the United State