Wild game

The specific requirements for wild game meat production are set out in Annex III, Section IV of  Retained EU Regulation 853/2004.

The critical difference in production practice (compared to farmed animal production) is reliance on the ‘trained person’ in the field providing the necessary assurances to food producers downstream that the animals killed are considered fit for human consumption.

The Wild Game Guide (WGG) provides full information on the hygiene regulations for food businesses that supply wild game and for people who hunt wild game and supply it either in-fur or in-feather or as small quantities of wild game meat.

This guide is for:

• those who shoot and/or supply wild game,
• enforcement officers and
• retailers and processors

More detailed information for each supply scenario is available in the guide.  We are currently consulting on this guidance document in so if you have any comments on the guide please send them to foodenquiries@fss.scot.

Wild boars which are not farmed and live in the wild are classified as ‘feral’. As feral wild boar will scavenge food which might be contaminated with Trichinella, there is a possibility for these boar to also become infected. Wild boar must also be tested for Trichinella and it is the responsibility of producers to ensure that this takes place. This guidance document provides advice on how to test feral wild boar carcasses for Trichinella.

Sampling kits and freepost, self-addressed envelopes can be ordered free of charge from the Testing Laboratory at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), National Reference Laboratory for Trichinella and Echinococcus, Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ. Alternatively:

• Email: NRL.Parasitology@apha.gov.uk
• Tel: 07584111971

You can also find Scottish Government guidance and advice on Trichinella testing when selling feral pig or wild boar meat below.

Lead can be found in wild game as a result of using lead shot or bullets. When game is processed at Approved Game Handling Establishments (AGHEs), the affected parts of the meat should be removed due to the damage caused by the shot, therefore also removing most of the lead. However, there may still be small amounts left in the meat. If AGHEs are receiving and processing lead shot game, they should consider and address this in their food safety management system.

A recent study commissioned by FSS and Scottish Government, and led on by Moredun, exploring the risk of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) bacteria in wild venison has now been completed.