Antibiotic Residues in Raw Cow's Milk: A Systematic Review of the Last Decade

The inappropriate use of antimicrobials in dairy animals can lead to residues in raw milk and in dairy products. Foods containing residues of this nature, whether in the short, medium, or long term, cause serious health harm. Absence of these compounds in foods should be a premise for declaring safety. This systematic review aimed to identify the antibiotic residues most frequently found in raw bovine milk and the methodologies used to detect such residues over the ten years from 2013 to 2023. PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were followed, by searching the Web of Science, PubMed Central, Scopus, and Springer databases. The search strategy identified 248 articles, and after applying the selection and quality assessment criteria, 16 studies were selected. The number of samples analyzed was 411,530, of which 0.21% tested positive for some type of antibiotic. Eight classes and 38 different types of antibiotics were identified. The most common class was tetracycline, with emphasis on sulfonamides and quinolones, which have shown increasing prevalence among residues in milk in recent years. A total of 56.25% of the studies employed rapid kits to detect residues, 18.75% chromatography, and 25% both techniques. Antibiotic residues in bovine raw milk should be a great concern for animal, environmental, and human health.