11 Canadian Dairy Farms Fined for Antibiotics in Milk

Last week, 11 dairy farms in British Columbia were charged $65,000 in fines after random testing between the period of August 2015 and July 2016 proved that their dairy products contained antibiotics. According to dairy industry spokesperson Trevor Hargreaves, standard practice in Canada is that animals treated with antibiotics are removed from the production line until their systems are clear of the drugs. “If you are buying milk in Canada, you can be assured you are getting an extremely high quality product,” Hargreaves says. During a separate 18-month investigation ending in June 2016—and conducted by the B.C. Milk Marketing Board—27 percent of dairy farms in British Columbia failed to comply with Canadian animal welfare laws. A survey conducted earlier this year revealed that only 29 percent of Canadians believe animal farmers to be good steward of the environment, a notion exacerbated by these problematic findings of antibiotics in milk.