Agnieszka Dabrowska, Elena McWatt and Carmen Lillo Llopis This chapter provides an overview of the legislation in the United Kingdom pertaining to the production of venison. While European Union (EU) legislation applies in Northern Ireland (NI), the reader is required to seek advice on the arrangements in place for their location. The food safety and hygiene requirements for ensuring the safe production of foodstuffs, including farmed or wild game and wild game meat, are set out in relevant published legislation. The legislation also provides definitions applicable to the specific produce and requirements that apply to a given person or business depending on specific circumstances, including various exemptions. Therefore, it is important that the relevant authorising or approval body is consulted in case of any uncertainties to ensure the correct application of the law concerning game intended for human consumption or management of edible co-products and animal by-products, especially when intended for the production of pet food. An overview of the main legislation applicable to foodstuffs in Great Britain (GB) is presented in Table 8.1. In NI, EU law continues to apply with respect to the majority of food and feed hygiene, and food safety laws, as described in the Windsor Framework (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-windsor-framework). Table 8.1 Legislation applicable to foodstuffs in Great Britain. Game can be classified as either ‘farmed’ or ‘wild’. In general, farm-raised game are originally wild species of mammals and birds that are kept captive and are being managed similarly to domestic livestock, using practices such as supplementary feeding and controlled breeding. Farmed deer in the United Kingdom are almost all Cervus elaphus, the red deer species. Depending on the categorisation of the game, it must be processed and supplied in accordance with the relevant legislation. Annex I of Regulation 853/2004 sets out the following definitions. With regard to the classification or categorisation of animals as wild game or farmed game and in the absence of a legal definition for park deer, the legislation allows for it to be applied based on the conditions and circumstances in which the deer live. Each operation should be judged on its own merits with consideration of site-specific issues including sufficient room for the herd to roam naturally and sufficient natural foodstuffs for the herd to survive (the provision of additional foodstuffs is acceptable as long as the animals are not fed continuously throughout the year). Numbers of deer should be kept up through natural reproduction from animals within the herd. However, culled deer may be replaced with deer brought in from outside subject to animal health rules. Deer that live in an enclosure, such as a large estate, can be classified as wild game as long as they meet the criteria listed above and are culled by stealth hunting methods using deer-legal (see criteria (3) in Section ‘Slaughter’ below) high-velocity rifle/ammunition combination. Game animals killed in other ways, e.g. by road traffic, do not comply with the legal definitions and cannot/should not be supplied for human consumption. Darting (the process of intramuscular injection using a medicated projectile) to sedate a deer will sometimes be necessary and, while sedation and immobilisation are covered in detail in Chapter 3 (Restraint of deer), it must be noted that any medication used may have potential consequences for the meat entering the food chain. Any farmed deer or the carcase of farmed deer supplied to the abattoir must be accompanied by the food chain information containing notice of any withdrawal periods that have been observed for all veterinary medicines and other treatments administered to the animals while on the last or previous holdings. As farmed deer are considered food-producing animals, the records of the acquisition and the administration of the veterinary medicinal products must be kept by the keeper according to the requirements of the legislation, which is for five years in the United Kingdom. This does not apply to the carcases of culled wild game prior to being placed on the market for human consumption. Wild game carcases which are dispatched to an Approved Game Handling Establishment (AGHE) should be accompanied by a hunters declaration label/tag (Figure 8.1). This records information about species and the time and location of the culling event; it must include any abnormalities noted in the animal’s behaviour pre-shooting, carcase abnormalities or environmental contamination. Carcases from animals with suspected generalised conditions, which may affect public/animal health, should not enter the food chain. Figure 8.1 An example of a hunter’s declaration. Source: Ken Urquhart. Veterinary surgeons should note that animals treated with prescription medicines must be under their care and that veterinary associations/regulators, including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the British Veterinary Association in the United Kingdom (see for example https://www.bva.co.uk/resources-support/medicines/under-care-resources-for-veterinary-practices/), have supporting guidance related to the specific activities and procedures and the RCVS Code of Conduct (https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/). Medicinal treatment of wildlife can also be subject to different and complex legal requirements, which should always be considered if there is a possibility of the treated animal being culled and presented to an AGHE. Veterinary surgeons should be aware that sedation drugs to capture wild deer or park deer through an intramuscular injection, known as darting, cannot be delegated to a layperson, even in the presence of the prescribing veterinarian. Furthermore, most drugs used for darting deer have no established maximum residue levels and their effect on human health may either be unknown or harmful, that is why all deer darted with such drugs must be excluded from the human food chain and this can be facilitated in part by using a permanent identification such as a tamper-proof ear tag (Boyes et al. 2021). Darting any park or wild deer also requires licensing by the relevant body (Natural England, Natural Resources Wales or NatureScot).
Chapter 8
Venison in the United Kingdom
Legislation
General principles and requirements of food law and procedures in matters of food safety, including traceability of food and feed.
Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 (assimilated) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Rules on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products and associated acts.
Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 (assimilated) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
General requirements for the hygiene of foodstuffs applying to all food businesses, including primary producers.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (assimilated) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Specific hygiene rules applying to businesses producing food of animal origin.
Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (assimilated) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
General rules regarding animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption.
Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 (assimilated) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Wild Game, Wild Game Meat and Farmed Game
Use of Medical Substances and Consequences for the Food Chain
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