Antibiotic residues are undesirable in milk and milk products for a number of reasons. In particular, they can have harmful effects on public health and harm to the manufacturer of the cultured milk products, e.g. MRSA etc. Although government regulatory agencies and the dairy industry have been successful in decreasing the presence of high concentrations of antibiotic residues, violations still occur and lead to contaminated products. As a result, several rapid and reliable methods for the detection of antibiotic residues have been developed, including microbiological and instrumental analysis methods. The conventional methods are time consuming, but recent improvements have allowed for better detection time, sensitivity, and accuracy. An example of an advanced detection instrument is the biosensor, which has several applications in food and environmental science, e.g. food-born pathogen detection, antimicrobial residues etc. In the present review, the recent trends in the methods used to test for antibiotic residues in milk and dairy products, as well as their specific applications, have been discussed.