Game meat hygiene

Increased consumers' demand for game meat is driven by various motivations. In order to fulfil this demand for safe, wholesome and nutritious meat, management of wild game and establishment of adequate supply chains are required. Identification and assessment of hazards of biological and non-biological origin help to design and implement effective control measures. This requires cooperation of the stakeholders, of food safety authorities and scientists. Game meat safety extends from the wildlife-human interface to wildlife-livestock interactions, as regards transfer of pathogenic agents or transfer of residues. Thus, assurance of game meat hygiene is a multidisciplinary task, and involves tackling a variety of safety and quality issues for a number of species under diverse living conditions and modes of harvesting. This is reflected in the contents of this volume, with 19 contributions on free-living or farmed game and on invasive species, namely the warthog in South Africa. This volume is the third in a series on safety and quality assurance along the game meat chain, following a 'from forest to fork' approach. Like its predecessors, it is targeted at scientists in academia and industry, graduate students as well as to governmental officials in veterinary public health and food safety.