Significant drop in veterinary antibiotics sales across Europe
Significant drop in veterinary antibiotics sales across Europe
Randox Food Diagnostics recently reported that the European Parliament has banned the use of antibiotics that are important for human medicine use on animals, and is prohibiting any antimicrobials in livestock without a vet prescription. The new legislation, that is to become law by 2022, states that antimicrobials cannot be used to improve performance or compensate for poor animal conditions.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) have now documented a significant drop in overall veterinary antibiotic sales across Europe. The EMA recognise that the reduction highlights the efforts made by the European Union (EU) and various stakeholders, promoting prudent use of antibiotics in the animal sector and its positive impact. The reduction of antibiotic use in food-producing animals is a key pillar to the EUs One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), according to a report conducted by the University of Minnesota.
30 countries in total submitted data between 2011 and 2016. German antibiotic sales dropped by 58%. However, whilst the majority of countries saw a drop in sales, six countries reported an increase of more than 5%. Germany’s implementation of an antibiotic minimising programme has helped the country to minimise antibiotic use, by requiring farmers raising cattle, pigs, chickens, or turkeys to report the frequency of antibiotic treatment on their farm every 6 months. If animal treatment frequency is above the median of all farms, operators must evaluate their usage with a veterinarian.
This major step forward in public health has a direct impact on the environment and food. Randox Food Diagnostics recognise the importance of improving the global food safety chain, and continue to transform the landscape by developing high quality revolutionary screening products. Our reliable and economic testing methods enable the user to detect multiple drug and toxin residues from a single sample, including antimicrobials, growth promoting compounds, synthetic steroids, anthelmintics and coccidiostats. With an expanding range of 37 ELISAs, 21 multiplex screening arrays and 20 enzymatic/colourmetric reagents, our trusted solutions ensure that better science means safer food.
For any questions, email us directly at: info@randoxfooddiagnostics.com
Ractopamine Detection in Meat
Ractopamine was first developed as a treatment for asthma but was never approved according to Consumer Reports. Research later uncovered that when added to animal feed prior to slaughter, ractopamine could increase meat leanness or weight. However, ractopamine is currently banned or resisted in over 160 nations, including Russia and all European Union countries.
Ractopamine belongs to a class of drugs known as beta-agonists. These drugs mimic the effects of adrenaline, resulting in increased protein synthesis in muscle tissue during the administration period. When looking at the long-term effects of the therapeutic use of beta-agonists, side effects include a fast heart rate, widening of blood vessels, skeletal muscle tremor, nervousness, metabolic disturbances, high blood sugar and a lower than normal potassium in the blood. It is for this reason that in Europe all beta-agonists are banned for use in livestock and for improving athletic performance according to EU council directive 96/22/EC.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide a “Never Fed Beta Agonists” program for companies that produce livestock and beef and pork products. Companies are to meet the requirements of the program if they are to supply pork or beef to customers that require verification of marketing claims that meat is derived from animals that are free of beta agonist residues.
With over 35 years’ experience within the diagnostics industry, Randox Food Diagnostics provide the highest quality products, customer service and technical support to ensure the needs of our global customer base are met. Our dedicated research and development team have therefore created our USDA approved ELISA kit for the detection of ractopamine residues. Offering excellent limits of detection, our accurate and reliable ractopamine test is applicable on urine and tissue sample types.
To ensure compliance with regulations, Randox Food Diagnostics also provide the Growth Promoter Multiple Matrix Array. Utilising our patented Biochip Array Technology, the Growth Promoter Multiple Matrix Array detects for several growth promoters in meat, including ractopamine.
For more information on our ractopamine ELISA or Growth Promoter Multiple Matrix Array, email info@randoxfooddiagnostics.com
Randox collaboration with Centre for Personalised Medicine is officially launched
A €8.6m EU funded cross-border Centre for Personalised Medicine that will improve clinical decision making and patient safety for dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular, acute kidney injury and emergency surgery has been officially launched.
Funded by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), the Centre for Personalised Medicine brings together 14 academic, healthcare provider and enterprise partner organisations, including Randox Laboratories, to work together to deliver practical solutions to clinicians to ensure that patients get the right treatment at the right time.
Personalised medicine moves away from the ‘one size, fits all’ approach, using state of the art genomics testing, technology and computing and intelligence systems to deliver a more targeted approach.
Lead investigator of the Centre, Professor Tony Bjourson, Professor of Genomics at Ulster University and Director of the Northern Ireland Centre for Stratified Medicine said:
“The Centre for Personalised Medicine will bring personalised medicine approaches to five of the most prevalent disease areas to improve the care and treatment of patients in Northern Ireland, the border region of Ireland and Western Scotland. This collaboration extends partnership working to key clinicians in the health sector ensuring that we address real world issues across the five disease areas.”
Dr Kenneth Martin, Senior R&D Scientist at Randox Laboratories, explained Randox’s role in the Centre for Personalised Medicine;
“Our highly committed R&D programme here at Randox means that we have more than 490 new tests currently in development – more than any other diagnostics company – across a range of pressing health challenges, including dementia, cardio-metabolic syndrome and renal disease. These tests, developed on our patented Biochip Array Technology which can conduct multiple patient tests simultaneously, can work to identify patients who will benefit from tailored therapeutics for enhanced efficacy. The CPM project will use Randox Arrays in four of the five research clusters in the project to determine how the information they provide can benefit clinical decision making. We aim to provide clinicians with the tools they need to make more accurate and better-informed decisions for their patients. This means that countermeasures can be taken at the earliest possible opportunity, when treatment is most likely to succeed.”
Welcoming the project Gina McIntyre, CEO of the Special EU Programmes Body, said:
“This project reflects one of the core objectives of the INTERREG VA Programme, to improve access to healthcare services for thousands of citizens. It has great potential as it will bring together a diverse range of cross-border partners to significantly improve clinical decision-making, and personalised treatment approaches, in the fight against five of the most common diseases.”
Match-funding for this project has been provided by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in Ireland and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.
For more information on the Centre for Personalised Medicine please contact the Randox PR team on 028 9442 2413 or by emailing randoxpr@randox.com
