Nitrofurans, like furazolidone and furaltadone, are synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotics that were used in animal, aquaculture and honey production. Nitrofurans have antibacterial and antiprotozoan properties.  In bacteria and animal studies, the parent drugs and their metabolites showed mutagenic and carcinogenic characteristics. That led to the prohibition of nitrofuran use in the treatment of animals used for food production. Despite those bans, residues mostly in the forms of metabolites (e.g. commonly referred as AOZ, AMOZ) continue to appear in the food supply.