Supplying Wild Game to AGHEs

Under these circumstances, those involved in all stages of production and distribution of wild game to AGHEs (for example, hunters, shooting estates, game buyers, transporters and larders etc) must comply with the food business operators (FBO’s) responsibilities by: 

• abiding by the relevant requirements in various relevant legislation. The exemptions laid out in the food hygiene regulations do not apply to you
• registering as an FBO with your Local Authority
• meeting the food safety law and traceability requirements of relevant legislation
• have hygienic and safe transport wild game.  Please see the section on Transport for more information. 

4.1 Handling of Large Wild Game for Supply to AGHEs

The specific requirements for the handling of large wild game for placing on the market through AGHEs are set out by the specific hygiene rules applying to businesses producing food of animal origin.

The steps which should be followed when hunting large wild game for supply to an AGHE are set out below:

• after killing, large wild game must, have their stomachs and intestines (green offal) removed as soon as possible (gralloched), and if necessary, be bled.  The stomach, intestines and other body parts including the head, may either be disposed of safely at the kill site, or at a larder provided this does not compromise the need for prompt removal
• a ‘trained person’ must then carry out an examination of the body and of any viscera removed to identify any characteristics that may indicate that the meat presents a health risk. This examination must take place as soon as possible after killing
• following the above-mentioned examination, and providing no abnormal characteristics were found, no abnormal behaviour was observed before killing, and there is no suspicion of environmental contamination, the trained person must issue and attach a numbered declaration which must include the date, time and place of killing.  This is usually achieved by tagging or labelling to link them to each other. Please refer to Annex A for an example of the declaration.  In this situation, the head and viscera do not need to accompany the body, except in those species who are susceptible to Trichinosis (such as wild boards and any other porcine species), whose head and diaphragm must accompany the body to the AGHE
• upon examination of the body, if abnormal characteristics are suspected by the trained person, the head (not the tusks, antlers and horns) and all the viscera except for the stomach and intestines must accompany the body to the AGHE. In this situation, the hunter must inform the competent authority (the FSA Official Veterinarian (OV)) of the abnormalities that have prevented them from issuing the “hunter declaration”. If you suspect an animal may be affected by a notifiable disease (ND) contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
• if no trained person is available to carry out the examination above, the head (not the tusks, antlers and horns) and all the viscera except for the stomach and the intestines must accompany the body to the AGHE
• if the head, viscera and other body parts do accompany the wild game to an AGHE, adequate correlation is to be maintained. 
• chilling must begin within a reasonable period of time after killing and achieve a temperature throughout the meat of not more than 7 °C. However, the carcase should not be frozen. Where climatic conditions so permit, active chilling is not necessary. These factors should be incorporated into the food safety management requirements of the receiving establishment
• the carcase should then be transported to an AGHE as soon as possible after  examination. During transport to the AGHE, heaping (the laying of carcases on top of each other) must be avoided to help the chilling process. Upon arrival at an AGHE, the large wild game will undergo formal inspection procedures by the OV or the Meat Hygiene Inspector (MHI) before a health mark is applied to the carcase.

4.2 Handling of Small Wild Game for supply to AGHEs

The specific requirements for the handling of small wild game for placing on the market through AGHEs are set out in legislation.

The steps which should be followed when hunting small wild game for supply to an AGHE are set out below:

• the trained person must carry out an examination to identify any characteristics that may indicate that the meat presents a health risk. The examination must take place as soon as possible after killing
• if abnormal characteristics are found during the examination, abnormal behaviour was observed before killing, or environmental contamination is suspected, the trained person must inform the competent authority
• meat of small wild game may be placed on the market only if the body is examined by a trained person and transported to an AGHE as soon as possible after the examination. You are encouraged to present a hunters declaration for small wild game, however it is not a legal requirement. See Annex A for suggested ‘trained person’ declaration
• chilling must begin within a reasonable period of time of killing and achieve a temperature throughout the meat of not more than 4°C. Where climatic conditions so permit, active chilling is not necessary
• evisceration must be carried out, or completed, without undue delay upon arrival at the AGHE, unless the competent authority (the FSA) permits otherwise

Small wild game delivered to an AGHE must be presented for inspection to the FSA (Competent Authority) for inspection.

4.3 Handling of Offal intended for Human consumption

Offal is defined as the fresh meat other than that of the carcase, including viscera and blood.

Large wild game must be presented with a hunter’s declaration and the offal need not accompany the carcase in the absence of abnormalities declared by the hunter. Large game accompanied with a hunter’s declaration stating that abnormalities were found, must have the correlating offal accompanied with the carcase. If the hunter’s declaration does not accompany large wild game, the offal must be presented for inspection by the FBO to the OV/MHI. Large wild game and accompanying offal must be clearly identified and correlated; this is usually achieved by tagging or labelling to link them to each other. If the offal is not clearly correlated to the body it cannot be supplied for human consumption. 

Where the offal from large wild game is intended for human consumption, the supplier to the AGHE must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the receiving establishment that it has been handled hygienically and that full correlation and traceability of body parts and large wild game can be made. The onus is on the receiving establishment to ensure that its product intake meets the requirements set out in its own HACCP plan. This should include ensuring that the supplier has the necessary infrastructure to ensure that the cold chain is maintained as necessary, and cross contamination is avoided.