Prevalence of Antibiotic Residues in Milk Consumed in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Improper use of antibiotics and not paying attention to withdrawal time causes antibiotics to enter the milk, which can cause allergies in humans and cause antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria in the long run, so quality and hygienic milk control is essential.

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic residues in milk as a systematic review and metaanalysis from 2004 to 2021 for 15 years in Iran. The data were collected from four international search databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, and four Iranian databases, including SID, MagIran, Civilica, and IranDoc.

After reviews of 314 studies, 38 were finally selected, and the information was recorded and analyzed in Stata software. The results of this study show that the residual prevalence of antibiotics in milk using the screening method was 28% (CI: 0.34-0.22). The residual rates of antibiotics using enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods were 43% (CI: 0.26-0.59) and 27% (CI: 0.05-0.49), respectively.

The data obtained from the meta-analysis show that despite various reports of a quantitative amount of antibiotic residue in milk, the average amount in the ELISA method was 16.98 ppm. Although the prevalence of antibiotics in Iran is relatively high, a quantitative amount is optimal. Also, since the use of antibiotics in livestock is almost inevitable, proper withdrawal time of antibiotics can play an important role in preventing the release of antibiotic residues in milk.