A study by Centre for Science and Environment indicates that meat, milk, poultry may also be laced Sreejiraj Eluvangal NEW DELHI Our cities might be sitting on top of a volcano of antibiotic contamination of food items, according to a study by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Highlighting extensive antibiotic abuse, the study has found disturbingly high levels of anti-bacterial compounds in 11 out of 12 samples of bottled honey collected from Delhi shops. The samples include those of prime brands like Dabur, Himalaya, Baidyanath and Khadi. The highest amount of antibiotics was detected in a bottle of Nectaflor honey, imported from Switzerland, which tested positive for five of six families of antibiotics checked for. Dabur, which has a share of around 75% of the organised honey market in India, found its lone bottle test positive for three antibiotic varieties. The quantities ranged from 1.06 mg of antibiotics per kg of Nectaflor to 0.2 mg per kg for Dabur to 0.16 mg per kg for Himalaya. While there are no standards on antibiotic content in honey meant for the domestic market, the commerce ministry has set its own limits for certain antibiotics in honey exported from India. The maximum oxytetracycline content allowed in honey is 0.01 mg per kg and chloramphenicol 0.0003 mg per kg. "But we found nine times as much oxytetracycline in the Dabur sample and more than 10 times the limit in both the imported samples, including one sample from Canada," said Sunita Narain, director, CSE, which has a track record of finding harmful chemicals in food items. A 2003 report on the presence of pesticides in bottled water had led to the formulation of standards prescribing the upper limit for such chemicals in drinking water. Only one of 12 bottles