Evaluation of Antibiotics Residues in Chicken Meat Samples in Lebanon

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

To meliorate the presentation of the data and to increase the quality of the presentation.

If you meliorate the "history" about your data, including provenance of the chickens and how many farms, why it is so important the research. If you conclude with the general overview on antibiotics residue situation of the regional areas of Lebanon, the research will be more interesting and complete. You can work to meliorate it.

Abstract

To specify which the aims of the research. Why did you search antibiotics in the chickens?

It is not clear even if I can understand why with my thinking.

Introduction

In general, the introduction need to be increased. More data about the chicken production in Lebanon and to specify more detail.

Pay attention on the numeration of the references

Line 32: missed the numeration of the literature, correct: (Kantiani et al…2010, Laxminarayan et al., 2013…) -->with numbers [2],[3]

Line 36-39: human risk? To increase the human risk of antibiotics resistance and the importance for your research to evaluate the presence of residue in chicken. Why is it important for the future? Why do we need less antibiotics in animal livestocks? Human point of view.

Line 42: to correct: (European commission, 2010) with number [6].

Line 43-53: to define the considered macro area and to divide the analysis of the main researches about antibiotics in poultry. Maybe you can consider middle east-area and later focalize to Lebanon situation, data avaible in literature.

Materials and methods

Line 65: from farms: “how many farms? Where are they located? Industrial poultry broiler farms or local breed chicken farms? To increase the knowledge about the provenance of the samples.

How did you divide the sample? Did you consider all toghetere? Maybe it is better to compare different region of Lebanon and provenance of the chickens? You could perfom a statistical analysis later.

Line 77: define the city and country of (Sigma-Aldrich, company)

Line 91: reference for the methodology of muscle chicken meat antibiotics residue detection

Statistics

How did you analyze the data?

Which analysis can you improve your knowledge on the data?

Maybe with the new set up you can increase the knowledge on the data

Results and discussion

To rewrite all considering the new approach of the data analysis. Group (means ± standard deviation).

Line 159: Table 2: It is not clear, increase the sizing type.

Why did you put regulation 2010? Why did you omit the name of the regulation in the title of the table?

Line 169: why did you cite a regulation 2377/90 instead of 37/2010, you cited 37/2010 in the introduction. Which is the current legislation? To specify better

Conclusion:

To reconsider the conclusion with the new consideration about region of lebanon. Considering the country situation and the region interested by the antibiotics residue presence.

Later, to increase the conclusion

Author Response

Thanks.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is appropriate for the publication in the journal. Anyway, some little revision are needed.

page 1 line 42 - Indicate the number of reference

Page 2 line 60 - Indicate the number of reference

page 3 line 92 - Indicate the number of reference

page 5 line 142 - Indicate the number of reference

page 5 line 146 - indicate the number of replicate for the points of calibration curves. 

Table 2 - divide for each fortification levels the %recoveries or in alternative indicate for each fortification levels the %recoveries; STDEV; RSDr%.

Should be interesting calculate the exposure and a risk assessment evaluation for consumers using the highest residue found in the analysed samples. 

Author Response

Thanks.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

You need more data and later you will comunicate them to the research world. 

It is not clear where the chickens come from and how many per farm. it is basically important for the research. Maybe you could have used 61 chicken from the first farm and only 19 from the others 18 farms (1.05 chicken per farm). It is not complete and it is not clear. Maybe you can try with a short comunication or you can improve your data.

Author Response

You need more data and later you will communicate them to the research world.

Re: Dear Reviewer,

As I mentioned before, this article is screening for the first time in Lebanon the antibiotic residues in chicken samples. Please give me the opportunity to publish this as preliminary study. Knowing that as a perspective of this study, we will expand the screening to cover a larger sample all over Lebanon.

It is not clear where the chickens come from and how many per farm. It is basically important for the research. Maybe you could have used 61 chicken from the first farm and only 19 from the others 18 farms (1.05 chicken per farm). It is not complete and it is not clear. Maybe you can try with a short comunication or you can improve your data.

Re: Line 86: A total of 80 chicken samples (fresh broilers) were randomly collected from one slaughterhouse located in Keserwan, in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. The 80 samples in this slaughterhouse comes from 19 farms located in different regions of Lebanon. The 19 farms were distributed as follows. Four farms (providing 4 random samples each) were located in Jbeil_Mount Lebanon, four farms (providing 4 random samples each) were located in Keserwen_Mount Lebanon, four farms (providing 4 random samples each) were located in Batroun North Lebanon, four farms (3 farms providing 4 random samples and one farm providing 5 samples each) were located in Akkar North Lebanon, and three farms (providing 5 random samples each) were located in Metn Mount Lebanon.

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

Thanks to complete the main point of the research. Now it is clear that you cover an area of Lebanon and you can talk about the issue of antibiotics. You focused the problem in the northern area of Lebanon.

Line 80: I will specify to complete the infromatiomn:

“This research evaluated the Northern area of Lebanon, from the capital to the North.

Conclusion:

Line 278: I will include: “ The next/subsequent researches would need focus on the South part of Lebanon to complete the avaible data and to provide a complete view of antibiotics residues in chickens for entire country.

Comments for author File: Comments.docx

Author Response

Thanks to complete the main point of the research. Now it is clear that you cover an area of Lebanon and you can talk about the issue of antibiotics. You focused the problem in the northern area of Lebanon.

Thank you for you valuable comments.

Line 80: I will specify to complete the infromatiomn:

“This research evaluated the Northern area of Lebanon, from the capital to the North.

Line 84: This sentence was added.

Conclusion:

Line 278: I will include: “ The next/subsequent researches would need focus on the South part of Lebanon to complete the avaible data and to provide a complete view of antibiotics residues in chickens for entire country.

Line 294: This sentence was added.