Your chicken dish will have less antibiotics

The Indian government is trying to make sure that the chicken on your plate is free ofexcessiveantibioticsandveterinarydrugsthatmaybeharmful for human consumption.

The ministry of health has notified an amendment to the Food Safety & Standards (Contaminants, Toxins & Residues) Regulations, 2011, under which maximum permissible limits have been specified for the presence of antibiotics and other drugsinmeatandmeatproducts, including chicken.

“Maximumpermissiblelimits of 37 antibiotics and 67 other veterinary drugs are prescribed for chicken,” the health ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry, through the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has also sought comments from all stakeholders, including individual citizens.

The comments will be placed for consideration before the ScientificPaneloftheFSSAIonResidues of Pesticides and Antibiot- ics.

“We will direct poultry farms toadheretothegoodanimalhusbandrypracticesandmonitorthe useof antibiotics andveterinary drugs in meat and chicken. Special food committees and food inspectors will also check the antibiotic levels in chicken used infood processingunits. Though small shops will be a challenge, we are working in tandem with the animal husbandry department for effective implementationofnewtherules,”saidPawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI.

Perturbed by rising anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in animals, which is indirectly being transmitted to people through meat and poultry products, the NationalCentreforDiseaseControl(NCDC)recentlywrotetothe department of animal husbandry, seeking to regulate the use of antibiotics on animals.

“Irrational use of antibiotics indirectly tells upon human health.Whiletheresiduesofantibiotics may pass on to humans through food and milk, diseased animals resistant to drugs are even a bigger problem,” said AC Dhariwal, director of NCDC.

NEW DELHI: