The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.  Under the U. S. National Residue Program (NRP), FSIS routinely monitors these products for the presence of chemical residues such as veterinary drugs, pesticides and environmental contaminants based on tolerances set by regulatory partners.  Nitrofuran antibiotics have been banned from use in food-producing animals by many food regulatory agencies, including the European Food Safety Authority in 1993, the Food and Drug Administration in 2002, the Thailand Ministry of Health in 2003, and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority in 2003.  Nitrofurazone is a nitrofuran antibiotic, and its metabolism results in tissue-bound metabolites including semicarbazide (SEM).  SEM usefulness as an indicator of nitrofurazone usage have been called into question as research has identified alternative sources of SEM, such as environmental contaminants or reactive by-products formed during food processing.  Even though nitrofurazone has been unauthorized in the United States, there is documented evidence that SEM residues have been found in poultry products.  FSIS conducted a study to determine whether SEM findings were the result of illegal drug use or generated as a by-product of food processing.  Fresh and frozen chicken samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of SEM at various time points in poultry production.  No samples collected prior to chemical interventions tested positive for SEM, whereas several post-intervention samples tested positive.  While the detection of SEM in samples prior to intervention could have been indicative of nitrofurazone use, its absence in these samples suggest that the detection of SEM exclusively after the application of chemical interventions may be a result of by-products formed during poultry processing.<br/>

Investigation into the detection of semicarbazide, a nitrofurazone indicator, in chicken

2019 Fall National Meeting

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