The recent detection of antibiotics in samples of cow's milk has raised questions in consumers' minds about the quality of beef as well.

Since antibiotics have been found in cow's milk, most consumers are now asking how safe beef is.

Kulsuma Begum, a Dhaka resident, eats beef at least twice a week, but in the present situation she feels she cannot trust anything.

"If antibiotics are found in cow's milk, then the meat of that cow will also have antibiotics. The milk comes from that same body," Mrs Kulsuma told BBC Bangla. "How can we eat this contaminated meat? Meat cannot simply be banned."

Recent tests by the government's Institute of Public Health detected antibiotics in beef as well as in cow's milk.

Veterinarians say that if a cow falls ill and has a bacterial infection, there is no option but to give it antibiotics.

But because veterinary antibiotics are easy to obtain, they are used indiscriminately in most cases, alleges Dr Morjina Akter, associate professor at Chattogram Veterinary University.

"The problem here is that cattle are being given medicine without any prescription, or else on a prescription written by a quack. And when antibiotics are given, the course is not completed. In a word, nobody cares about any rules," she said.

When a cow is given antibiotics, the residue stays in its body for 7 to 15 days depending on the drug, Ms Akter said.

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.