Detection of Quinolones in Poultry Meat Obtained from Retail Centers in Santiago Province, the Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic, poultry consumption per capita is greater than 34 kg of poultry meat per year. However, antibiotics, specifically the quinolone group, may be overused and can result in residues in the poultry meat. These residues are of concern because consumers may have allergies to antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can develop from overuse of antibiotics in production. Little is known concerning this issue specifically for Santiago Province in the Dominican Republic. Thus, the main purpose of this research was to evaluate the incidence of residual quinolones in poultry meat and determine whether any residues detected were higher than the residue maximum limits (100 mu g/kg) established by food industry authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority. A total of 135 samples of chicken breast were taken from different retail meat centers in the nine municipalities of Santiago Province (Santiago, Tamboril, Sabana Iglesia, Villa Bisono, Punal, Villa Gonzalez, Licey, Janico, and San Jose De Las Matas) and were analyzed using the Equinox test (Immunotec, Swanton, VT). Of the 135 samples analyzed, 50% from Sabana Iglesia, 20% from Licey, 20% from San Jose De Las Matas, and 6.25% from Santiago contained residues of quinolones higher than the residue maximum limits. No quinolone residues were detected in samples obtained from Janico, Punal, Tamboril, Villa Bisono, or Villa Gonzalez. The results of this investigation suggest that some poultry meat sold for human consumption in Santiago Province of the Dominican Republic contains quinolone residues and may represent a health risk to some consumers.