The National Agricultural Laboratories of Brazil and the control of residues and contaminants in food

Abstract

The laboratory activity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply in Brazil has a history that is richer than most people are aware of. The institutions that today are known as National Agricultural Laboratory - Lanagros - were once a smaller initiative that suffered ups and downs throughout the decades. The recognition that the Lanagros have today - as reference centres with open communication channels with some of the world's greater laboratories in residue and contaminants in food analyses - is the fruit of several years of hard work, good ideas and a strong will never to let down society. Today the Lanagros act not only by performing analyses for the monitoring and investigation programmes, but also in the research and development of analytical methods, providing technical advice on the elaboration of guidelines and normatives, international negotiation and the evaluation of other laboratories. The Lanagros work in an ISO 17025 environment, and they are now being directed and prepared to be able to respond to outbreaks and crises related to the presence of residues and contaminants in food, with the readiness, quickness and reliability that an emergency requires. Investments are allocated strategically and have been giving concrete results, all to the benefit of consumers.

Commonly screened antibiotics in raw milk from dairy plants under State Inspection in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…Broad-spectrum screening tests have the ability to detect most of the major classes of antibiotics used in veterinary medicine. However, MRLs may vary between countries and therefore certain screening tests would not be able to detect all antibiotic compounds at the specific concentrations required in each country (MAURICIO;LINS, 2012;WANG et al, 2012). Regarding this, the scope of description of certain tests indicates the detection of antibiotics only above the MRL allowed by the national legislation, which can generate false-negative results.…”

“…For this reason, it is important to minimize the contamination risk of these products, including those that may occur as a consequence of using veterinary drugs in animal production, such as antibiotics. The maximum residue limit (MRL) is the maximum residual concentration of a veterinary drug permitted in food of animal origin, and values for antibiotics are established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply of Brazil (BRASIL, 1999;MAURICIO;LINS, 2012). The health risks from the ingestion of antibiotics in milk are associated with hypersensitivity, anaphylactic shock, increased antibiotic resistance, genotoxicity, aplastic anemia, intestinal microbiota imbalance, and secondary collateral effects, depending on the specific residues present in milk (BEYENE, 2016).…”

“…62 -MAPA (BRASIL, 2011) and the State Resolution No. 0001/15 (RIO GRANDE DO SUL, 2015), which predict the daily quality control of refrigerated raw milk in industrial facilities, through screening for antibiotic residues and other microbial growth inhibitors, according to the MRLs recommended by the Brazilian National Plan for Control of Residues (BRASIL, 1999;MAURICIO;LINS, 2012).…”

Import Restrictions and Food‐Safety Regulations: Insight from Brazil

“…In response to Council Directive 96/23/EC, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) launched its National Plan for Control of Residues and Contaminants (PNCRC) in 1999 (de Queiroz Maur ıcio & Lins, 2012;Jardim & Caldas, 2012;Maur ıcio, Lins, & Alvarenga, 2009). The PNCRC is a federal inspection and surveillance program that evaluates and monitors food production chains, aiming to verify the presence and the quantity of chemical residues that are potentially harmful to consumers.…”

High-throughput method for macrolides and lincosamides antibiotics residues analysis in milk and muscle using a simple liquid–liquid extraction technique and liquid chromatography–electrospray–tandem mass spectrometry analysis (LC–MS/MS)

“…In Brazil, the National Residue Control Plan (NRCP) defines which residues must be monitored and their MRLs, aiming mainly to monitor the incidence of residues and prevent potential risk to the population exposed to those products [8]. The NRCP is an attribution of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) [9,10]. Many studies have reported methodologies based on liquid chromatography couple to mass spectrometry in single or tandem mode (LC-MS and LC-MS/MS, respectively) to determine macrolides and lincosamides residues in milk [11][12][13][14] and muscle [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], and also in different matrices, such as honey [22,23], eggs [24], fish [25] and kidney [26,27].…”