"FDA Tests Turn Up Dairy Farmers Breaking The Law On Antibiotics"

A few dairy farmers are slipping throught the Food and Drug Administration's enforcement net prohibiting unnecessary use of antibiotics in dairy cows.

"When it comes to the current controversy over antibiotic use on farm animals, milk is in a special category.

Lactating cows, unlike hogs, cattle or chickens that are raised for their meat, don't receive antibiotics unless they are actually sick. That's because drug residues immediately appear in the cow's milk — a violation of food safety rules.

Milk shipments are tested for six of the most widely used antibiotics, and any truckload that tests positive is rejected. So when cows are treated, farmers discard their milk for several days until the residues disappear.

Yet a new report from the Food and Drug Administration reveals that a few farmers are slipping through a hole in this enforcement net. These farmers are using antibiotics that the routine tests don't try to detect, because the drugs aren't supposed to be used on dairy cows at all."

Dan Charles reports for NPR March 8, 2015.