The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published figures showing that veterinary drug residues in human food and animals declined in 2020.
The data included 620,758 samples reported by 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland and Norway. For 2020, the percentage of samples that exceeded maximum legal levels was 0.19 percent; in 2019, it was 0.3 percent. This is the lowest figure that has been recorded over the past 11 years.
The samples were taken from bovines, sheep, pigs, goats, equine animals, poultry, and aquaculture, as well as eggs, honey, milk, rabbit meat, and game. Most of these were targeted samples, but some were suspect samples or collected at import.
The number of samples actually tested was lower in 2020 because of the UK no longer reporting data to EFSA, as well as issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers said.
