Validation of a Five Plate Test, the STAR protocol, for the screening of antibiotic residues in muscle from different animal species according to European Decision 2002/657/EC.

Abstract : The STAR protocol is a Five Plate Test (FPT) developed several years ago at the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) for the screening of antimicrobial residues in milk and muscle. This paper presents the validation of this method according to European Decision 2002/657/EC and to an internal guideline for validation. A validation protocol based on 'simulated tissues' and on a list of 16 representative antimicrobials to be validated was implemented in our laboratory during several months for the STAR protocol. The performance characteristics of the method were determined (specificity, detection capabilities CCbeta, applicability, ruggedness). In conclusion, the STAR protocol is applicable to the broad-spectrum detection of antibiotic residues in muscles of different animal species (pig, cattle, sheep, poultry). The method has good specificity (false-positive rate = 4%). The detection capabilities were determined for 16 antibiotics from different families in relation to their respective maximum residue limit (MRL): beta-lactams (penicillins and cephalosporins