If her treatment was extra-label drug use, there is still a risk of residue showing up in your bulk tank. Should a test prove positive for antibiotics, it could take a huge bite from your bottom line. Needless to say this can run into thousands of dollars. Residues not only present a problem to the producer but also to the processor if the residues inhibit the fermentation process necessary for the manufacture of some dairy products. Because of the concern over the potential impact of residues in milk, manufacturers of antibiotics are required to provide guidelines for withholding milk from treated cows.
Producers react in one of two ways when notified of inhibitors in their milk.
One way is acceptance because they know exactly what happened to have caused the positive test. The second reaction is disbelief, anger and confusion. Often this is as the result of not immediately knowing what caused the positive antibiotic test. Dr. Rob Tremblay of Boehringer-Ingelheim states that extra label drug use is use of a product in any manner that's different from the instructions on the label or package insert. Withdrawals times stated only apply when the product is used exactly as the label indicates.