Consumption and Informal Trade of Milk in the North of Antioquia (Colombia)

Abstract

The excessive and irrational use of antibiotics to control bovine mastitis and the informal trade in milk with antibiotic residues are objects of great interest for public health, due to the problems associated with the consumption of milk with antibiotic residues on human, animal, and environmental health, and antibiotic resistance. The objective of this study was to understand the attitudes of dairy farmers towards the self-consumption of milk on the farm, the use of milk with antibiotic residues, and the formal and informal milk trade that generates risks for public health. Mixed methods: cross-sectional and grounded theory. Convergent triangulation design. The study was carried out in 9 dairy municipalities in the North of Antioquia, where 216 dairy farmers participated in the quantitative component; and 17 milk producers and 9 veterinarians took part in the qualitative component. A dairy farmer characterization survey was conducted, as well as a survey on the use and marketing of milk from cows with udder health problems and/or under antibiotic treatment. Semistructured interviews were conducted on the same subject. The variable “Intention to sell milk in the village when the dairy industry does not buy it due to high BTSCC” is associated with the BTSCC variable. The variable “Type of marketing reported” is associated with the CFU variable. 5 categories: self-consumption of milk, use of milk with antibiotics, informal milk trade, control of the dairy industry, and beliefs about the elimination of antibiotics in milk, were constructed to theorize about udder health and public health. Sociocultural, political, and economic factors affect decision making in dairy farmers regarding the use and marketing of milk from cows with mastitis and antibiotic residues. These attitudes and behaviors have public health implications.