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Medicines

Withdrawal periods: when is an animal safe to sell, eat or milk?

After a food-producing animal is given a medicine, its meat, milk or eggs must not go into the food chain until the withdrawal period has passed. Here is how withdrawal periods work, where to find them, and how to keep track of them.

What is a withdrawal period?

A withdrawal period is the minimum time between the last dose of a medicine and the animal (or its milk or eggs) being used for food. It lets residues of the medicine fall to a safe level. Each product sets its own withdrawal periods for meat, milk and eggs, and they can differ between species.

Withdrawal periods vary widely. Sheep wormers, for example, range from a few days to more than 100 days depending on the product.

Where to find the withdrawal period

  • The product label or leaflet.
  • The Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) in the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s product database.
  • The NOAH Compendium of animal medicines.

Always use the withdrawal period for the species you are treating, and ask your vet if you are unsure.

Medicines used “off-label” (the cascade)

When a vet prescribes a medicine for a species or use it is not authorised for, under the UK’s “cascade” rules, the vet sets the withdrawal period. It must be at least the statutory minimum: 7 days for milk and eggs, and 28 days for meat from mammals and poultry. Your vet will tell you the period to use.

Tips that prevent mistakes

  • Count from the last dose, not the first.
  • Write the date the animal will be clear on the record when you treat it, not later.
  • When a group is treated, record every animal in it.
  • If in doubt, wait longer: there is no penalty for keeping an animal back a few extra days.

How Herdtrail keeps track

When you record a treatment, you can add the date the withdrawal ends. The animal’s record then shows a yellow “In withdrawal until …” notice, the overview lists every animal still in withdrawal, and the public tag page warns anyone who finds the animal that it has recently had medicine. Herdtrail records the date you enter; it does not look up withdrawal periods for you.