Warning: Beware of wild game meat from amateur hunters

There are several reasons why hobby hunters are advised against buying or consuming game meat – and these are often related to health, environmental protection and animal welfare.

For 99% of human history, meat was more of a supplement than a staple food. Evolutionarily, we are not carnivores, but rather have a distinctly herbivorous predisposition. A lifestyle imposed against our genetics, the signaling pathways of our informal networks, has disadvantages and promotes disease.

However, these recreational killers struggle to correctly understand even the simplest natural and scientific connections. This is further evidence that the "Green Abitur" (a German environmental education certificate) is structured in a sectarian and unscientific manner.

Game meat can contain various biological and chemical hazards:

1. Health risks

• Parasites & pathogens: Wild animals can carry trichinella, toxoplasma, salmonella or other zoonoses (diseases transmissible to humans).
• Heavy metal contamination: Especially in game from regions with pollutant-rich ammunition such as lead-containing ammunition, the meat can contain lead, which is particularly problematic for children and pregnant women.
• No veterinary control: Unlike meat from farms, wild game is not tested for diseases in a slaughterhouse.
• Wild game often contains a lot of purine, which is problematic for people with gout.
• Although cholesterol levels are similar to other meats, they are relevant for cardiovascular risk groups.
• In reality, game meat is often contaminated with ammunition, germs, or pollutants, posing health risks. Chronic lead exposure can damage the nervous system, kidneys, cardiovascular system, and especially brain development in children. The particles are often invisible to the naked eye and are not rendered harmless by cooking or freezing.
• Wild boars in Central Europe are often infected with pathogens that can be dangerous to humans.
• Wild animals ingest PFAS, heavy metals (e.g., cadmium, mercury), and pesticide residues through plants, soil, and water. Animals from contaminated areas (proximity to industry or intensive agriculture) can have significantly elevated levels of these pollutants.
• Wild game meat is genetically incompatible with our original diet and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, gout and some types of cancer.
• Animal protein and certain fatty acids promote inflammatory processes in the body.
• The high methionine and heme iron content in meat can accelerate aging processes and oxidative damage – an effect that is less pronounced in plant-based diets.
• Our genes have adapted over millions of years to a diet consisting primarily of plant-based ingredients.

2. Environmental protection & biodiversity

• Illegal hunting /poaching: In many countries, the sale of wild game is linked to poaching, which endangers threatened animal species.
• Ecological imbalances: Excessive recreational hunting can severely decimate local populations and disrupt the balance in the ecosystem.

3. Ethical and legal aspects

• Unclear origin: Especially with wild game from hobby hunters or from abroad, it is often impossible to trace where and how the animal was killed.
• Animal suffering: Hunting methods (traps, shooting, packs of dogs) can be very painful and lengthy for animals, which enriches the meat with additional unhealthy pollutants.
• Incorrect labeling : Sometimes meat is labelled incorrectly or not at all, which is misleading and poses risks to allergy sufferers or people with special dietary needs. Such incidents occur regularly in Switzerland, particularly among recreational hunters.

Common risks in game meat

1. Pathogens

2. Chemical contamination

3. Other risks

• Mistaken species (e.g., a protected animal sold as a "wild boar")
• Lack of cold chain → rapid multiplication of bacteria
• Insufficient cooking → parasites and bacteria survive

What do the authorities say about wild game meat?

Processed game meat (red meat) is carcinogenic, like cigarettes, asbestos or arsenic, explains the WHO .

Studies from Switzerland show that game enthusiasts, such as hobby hunters and their families, consume up to 90 portions of game meat per year in these households. The Federal Office for Food Safety considers the situation of hobby hunters and families who eat game meat once or several times a week to be concerning.

While copper and zinc are essential for humans, lead is considered highly toxic. For years, authorities have therefore recommended that children, pregnant women, and women planning to conceive avoid consuming meat from game killed with lead ammunition.

Cases of hepatitis E are increasing rapidly, according to the University Hospital Bonn. One way to become infected is through the consumption of raw or undercooked game meat. "Since this infection is usually harmless, the health risk posed by the hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been underestimated," warns gastroenterologist Professor Christian Strassburg from the University Hospital Bonn. In people with severely weakened immune systems, the liver inflammation can become chronic and even lead to cirrhosis. Pregnant women are at risk of acute, life-threatening liver failure. In both cases, a liver transplant is often the only option.

When buying wild game directly from a hobby hunter, the cold chain is often a critical point – especially because the conditions in the forest or in the field are not comparable to a slaughterhouse.

The cold chain

1. Immediately after killing

• Quickly opening (eviscerating) the carcass is crucial and often not possible to prevent germs from multiplying.
• Working cleanly is often difficult – there is no sterile room, but rather soil, leaves, insects and weather conditions.
• The core temperature of the meat must be lowered as quickly as possible to slow the growth of bacteria such as Salmonella or E. coli.
• Legally required (in the EU): Cooling to max. +7 °C for furred game (deer, wild boar) and max. +4 °C for feathered game – as quickly as possible.

2. Transport

• Professional hunters or game dealers use refrigerated vehicles or game refrigerators.
• Many hobby hunters, however, initially transport the game without active cooling, often only in the trunk or directly by the exhaust pipe of the vehicle.

3. Storage by the hobby hunter

• By law, only hobby hunters with appropriate hygiene certification are allowed to store game meat for sale.
• Ideally, this is done in a game refrigerator or a cold storage room with a temperature log.
• Problem: Some people sell or give away meat immediately after butchering it, without it ever having been refrigerated under controlled conditions.

4. Risks of a broken cold chain

• Germ growth : Even a few hours at temperatures above 7 °C can massively increase the number of germs.
• Reduced shelf life : Even deep-frozen game spoils faster if it was stored warm before freezing.
• Loss of taste : Bacterial decomposition leads to faster onset of unpleasant odors.

The IG Wild beim Wild (IG Wild with Wild) warns against wild game meat, viewing it as a product of a system that is risky to health, ecologically questionable, and ethically problematic. Furthermore, it undermines biodiversity, nature conservation, and species protection. Poor diets, including meat, are driving up health insurance premiums.

For over 99% of human history, the diet was predominantly plant-based: fruits, nuts, tubers, seeds, and leaves. Consequently, we don't have teeth like a wolf or lion. We have molars, intestines, stomach acid, enzymes, a digestive system, and so on for breaking down plants, not just carnassial teeth like predators. Isotope analyses show that in most Stone Age communities, the majority of calories came from plants.

Most important, however, when preparing dishes from dead wild animals are spices and marinating for days – who wants the taste of carrion to overpower them? Incidentally, you're not eating something, but someone.

Added value:

• Wild game: Natural, healthy – or dangerous?
• Game meat from a hobby hunter? – Carrion on your plate!
• Studies indicate that there are health risks associated with the consumption of wild game.
• Nutrition: The civilized taste
• Wild game from a hunter is carrion
• Wild game meat cannot be organic
• Meat from wild animals is not organic game.
• Dementia: How harmful is game meat?
• Game meat makes you sick
• Lead residues in game meat products
• Wild game: Risks, lead, and hunting myths
• Warning: Beware of wild game meat from amateur hunters
• Hunters also lie when selling meat.