This section provides information on residue limits in meat and poultry products applied by FSIS (as of December 31, 1997). These limits include tolerances and action levels developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for pesticide chemicals, and by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for animal drugs and unavoidable contaminants. These limits are derived in most cases from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): pesticide limits from 40 CFR 180, those for animal drugs from 21 CFR 556, and unavoidable contaminants from 21 CFR 109. The approved use conditions for animal drugs can be found in 21 CFR 520, 522, 524, 526, 529 (new animal drugs not subject to certification), 540, 544, 546, 548 (antibiotic drugs for use with animals), and 558 (new animal drugs for use in animal feed).

Formal tolerances are not established in all cases. For example, tolerance exemptions have been granted by EPA and FDA in approving the use of some pesticides and new animal drugs. For some unavoidable contamination situations, EPA and FDA, upon request, recommend action levels to FSIS; however, tolerances or action levels have not been established for all such situations. FSIS permits concentrations of residues in meat and poultry that do not exceed the residue limits published in this section.

The residue limits for poultry and livestock species are listed alphabetically by compound (which may include a compound's metabolites). The entries include, among other things, CFR or Federal Register (FR) citations for tolerances, and notations of action levels. Entries for animal drugs with "zero" or "no residue" tolerances also include, in parentheses, the limits of quantification considered by FDA in approving those drugs in food-producing animals. These limits are used by FDA for enforcement purposes, and are applied by FSIS in determining if the product is adulterated. All tolerance and action level units are in parts per million (ppm).

Any residue of an animal drug found in the edible tissues of a species for which the drug is not approved will be considered an adulterant. A substance endogenous to the animal tissue would not be considered an adulterant.

Unless otherwise indicated, "meat byproducts" includes kidney and liver.