A latest FDA report revealed that a few US dairy farmers are giving their cows some drugs. The presence of illegal antibiotics in milk, as shown by the report, has raised concerns that some farmers are not following food safety laws by giving cows drugs that routine tests cannot easily detect.

NPR reported that milk meant for commercial sale is tested for six commonly used antibiotics. It also told that any shipment that tests positive for any of those antibiotics is barred from entering the supermarket for ever.

Due to this strictness, farmers use antibiotics on dairy cows only when the cows are unhealthy and vet recommends it. When any cow is given antibiotics then milk production of that cow is put on hold.

FDA has found that some dairy farmers illegally use antibiotics that are not even intended for cows because the drugs go undetected by these tests.

The agency tested the milk from 2,000 dairy farms, roughly half of which were under suspicion, and half of which were random samples.

The test results showed that more than 1% of the under-suspicion group, and .4% of the other samples, tested positive for the six antibiotics that are not FDA approved.

Now the problem is that FDA cannot directly investigate the farm that violated the rule as the milk samples were anonymous.

Lead author Dr. William Flynn, also deputy director for science policy in the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, told NPR that the FDA will very soon begin testing for more antibiotics to track the farmers who violated the rules.

Dr. Flynn said, “Overall this is very encouraging and reinforces the idea that the milk supply is safe”. Several public health groups have also raised concerns about the level of animal antibiotics that enters into food as intake of these antibiotics can also be harmful for humans.