Do You Know Your Daily Antibiotic Intake through Residues in Your Diet?

While the use of a wide range of antibiotics has been reported as extensive in the rearing of agricultural animals, extremely limited information is available on the antibiotic residues in animal products and the adverse impact consistent low-level exposure to antibiotics might have on the human body as well as its microbiome. The aim of this study was to estimate the possible antibiotic concentrations humans are exposed to via their diet using the concentration of antibiotics in animal food products and water, and an online survey on dietary habits. A total of 131 participants completed the dietary habits survey, the majority belonging to the omnivorous diet habit. Distinct dietary trends were observed into omnivorous and unknown groups eating food-producing animal products, with specific food types dominating each meal: pork (e.g. ham) and dairy products (e.g. milk, yoghurt) during breakfast, beef (e.g. burger) and chicken (e.g. chicken breast) products during lunch, and fish (e.g. salmon fillet) during dinner. 34 different animal-based food and drink products were tested for the presence of ten different antibiotics. Low levels of nine of the ten antibiotics were detected across the samples tested with amoxicillin and trimethoprim being the most frequently detected antibiotics from all samples with concentrations ranging from 216.7-6866.9 μg/kg and 55.2-461.7 μg/kg, respectively. Of all products tested, over 35% exceeded the acceptable daily intake antibiotic concentration for amoxicillin, ampicillin, and enrofloxacin.