India: new rules for antibiotics use in farmed animals

India's Health Ministry has quantified for the first time a timeframe for food-produced animals and marine products to be kept off antibiotics before they enter the human food chain.

Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the ministry stated that the withdrawal period shall not be less than seven days for egg and milk, 28 days for meat from poultry and mammals, including fat and offal, before they enter the human food chain.