Pfizer Animal Health, a leading manufacturer in Australia of products to treat and control mastitis, has moved to change its products and remove the blue dye.“Intramammaries have historically contained brilliant blue, or "blue" as it has become commonly known.
 
Pfizer Dairy Market Manager Dr Jane Parker said that most of the world's dairying countries did not add blue dye to intramammary treatments.

"Pfizer’s hope is that this change to our products will make the supply of existing products more streamlined and allow the introduction of new products to the Australian market,” Dr Parker siad.

Four well-known Pfizer brands will be phased in during 2010.

“While this change to the blue dye requirement happened in 2009, Pfizer’s strict manufacturing guidelines and high quality assurance standards across multiple manufacturing plants has meant it has taken a little while to get the products without blue dye to farmers,” Dr Parker said.

“The first Pfizer product farmers might notice without blue dye will also have a name change, so make sure you check with your vet and ask about Pfizer products that you use in controlling mastitis on your farm.”

Dairy producers can be assured that the removal of blue dye will have no negative impact on how well products work. “The blue dye was simply an inert colour dye to alert producers that animals had been treated with intramammary antibiotic. It had no effect on how well a product worked to treat mastitis.”

Farmers are, however, being cautioned to be diligent, recording the identification of treated animals as they will no longer be alerted by blue milk.

Strict treatment records of the date animals are treated are essential. Producers should always treat cattle according to label directions (unless advised otherwise by their vet) and follow the milk withholding period as per the product packaging.