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HOW DO ANTIBIOTICS LIKE PENICILLIN AFFECT THE GROWTH OF BACTERIA IN MILK?
 Antibiotics gain entry to milk because of mastitis treatment; mastitis means inflammation of the udder.  Although this term includes all inflammatory conditions of the udder, it is defined here as a bacterial infection of the udder.  The amount of antibiotic excreted into milk may vary from eight to 80%; usually it averages about 50%.  It is therefore difficult to know the exact amount of antibiotic residue in milk at different milkings after treatment.  Generally, the concentration of antibiotic in milk decreases rapidly with successive milkings, usually at an exponential rate.

The extent to which starter inactivity is related to residual antibiotics in milk is not precisely known but as discussed earlier, antibiotics are still thought to be responsible for acidification problems.Milk should not contain antibiotic residues.Prior to 1990 milk was deemed to be contaminated if an antibiotic concentration of > 0.01 international units (iu) /ml was present, the standard has now been increased to 0.006 iu/ml.


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