Incurred penicillin G, oxytetracycline, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin residues in bovine and porcine muscle and kidney samples were analysed by microbiological and chemical methods, the former using Bacillus subtilis BGA as a test organism on agar media of pH 6, pH 7.2 and pH 8 and the latter using liquid chromatography. Least squares fits between the logarithms of the chemically obtained concentrations of the antimicrobials and the widths of the inhibition zones were used to estimate the inhibition zone widths corresponding to the maximum residue limit concentrations. In vitro sensitivities were determined with standard antimicrobial solutions. The results indicate that if B. subtilis BGA is used as a test organism, muscle tissue cannot be used as test material for screening oxytetracycline, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin residues on the plates used in this study, while penicillin G can be screened from muscle tissue. Because of the numerous factors causing or increasing variation in the analysis, the inhibition zone caused by a given antibiotic concentration cannot be predicted precisely. Therefore, a positive agar diffusion test needs to be confirmed chemically. If a kidney sample gives a positive agar diffusion test result, the antimicrobial concentration in a muscle sample from the same carcass should be checked chemically.