A new study has detected antimicrobial residues in chicken meat across Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam, with several samples exhibiting levels that surpass international safety benchmarks.

Conducted by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in London, the research received collaboration from research institutions across South and South-East Asia, according to a report by UK-based media outlet Poultry News.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has emerged as a growing global public health concern. The primary driver of this issue is the use of antimicrobial medications in food-producing animals.

If a designated withdrawal period is not observed following the administration of these drugs to livestock, pharmaceutical residues can persist in the meat after slaughter, posing potential health risks to human consumers.

Strict regulations are enforced across the UK and the European Union (EU), rendering instances of antimicrobial residues exceeding safe thresholds exceptionally rare.

However, limited data exists over the extent of this issue in developing regions, where public awareness surrounding antimicrobial residues remains comparatively low.

Addressing the gap, the study was led by Ludovic Pelligand, professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Anaesthesia at the RVC, alongside researchers from multiple institutions in Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam.

As part of the study, 558 chicken breast meat samples collected from these three nations between 2021 and 2022 were analysed.

The samples were dispatched to Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where they were screened for 69 types of veterinary antimicrobials against EU standards.

The meat samples were sourced from retail outlets and partly directly from farms where the poultry was ready for market sale.

The study revealed that multiple samples contained antimicrobial residues above safe limits.

Specifically, between 3.7 percent and 8.6 percent of samples from certain retail outlets exceeded safety thresholds.

By comparison, the average rate across EU member states between 2021 and 2022 ranged from just 0.05 percent to 0.09 percent.

Researchers suggested that the elevated figures observed in developing nations indicate that antimicrobial drugs may have been administered immediately prior to slaughter.

Prof Pelligand said he hoped the study would raise awareness of veterinary antimicrobial residues and lead to improvements in local food safety.