Is eating road kill a health-hazard?
I read this recent news story about a Kentucky Chinese restaurant dragging road kill into their restaurant and the town became skittish and shut the restaurant down.
Is eating road-killed venison a health hazard? What is the difference between a bow/gun-shot deer and and a road-killed deer, in terms of health concerns?
Can a road-killed deer be converted into quality acceptable by health depts by some form of inspection? Or, does restaurant quality venison have to come from deer farms?
Best Answer
Animals that are killed, independent on the method, have to be examined by a veterinarian and a sample should be tested. When the test comes back clean, the animal can be butchered and eaten.
However, a restaurant kitchen is not an abattoir and there's a high risk of cross-contamination. Think about the fur, the dust, the lice or other insects on the carcass. This means a restaurant should not butcher animals. Period.
If you take a road-kill home, take a sample (the tongue) to the local vet.
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Quick Answer about "Is eating road kill a health-hazard?"
“The risks that exists with roadkill will be similar from a foodborne illness perspective as those from hunting wild game,” said Grooters. “So with deer as road kill, one would want to consider risks that already exist in consuming venison, meaning chronic wasting disease, toxoplasmosis gondii, and other infections.Why you should be eating roadkill?
If people must eat animal carcasses, roadkill is a superior option to the neatly shrink-wrapped plastic packages of meat in the supermarket. Eating roadkill is healthier for the consumer than meat laden with antibiotics, hormones, and growth stimulants, as most meat is today.Can you eat road kill UK?
"It's not illegal to eat roadkill provided the animal has been run over unintentionally and hasn't been sold for consumption," said Insp Leech. The world of fashion has also tried to make use of road kill, both in the UK and across the Atlantic in the US.What do you call an animal that eats roadkill?
Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, condors, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia opossum, Tasmanian devils, coyotes and Komodo dragons.What if my dog eats roadkill?
Sometimes they get vomiting and diarrhoea ranging from mild to severe, and if the roadkill had mould growing on it, the dog could become sick with tremors after eating it. If it's a terrible habit and it's regular you can consider keeping your pet on the lead outside so that you can reduce the risk of this.The Man Who Eats Roadkill
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Answer 2
In Alaska moose roadkill is a common occurrence. Each one represents hundreds of pounds of perfectly usable meat.
The state maintains a waiting list of charities that are called to butcher and distribute the dead animals.
Obviously the health risk in Alaska is much lower than in Kentucky just because of the lower average temperature.
Answer 3
There is no difference how it dies, by bow, shotgun or truck. The only concern is what diseases the animal may have but you have those same concerns if you're a hunter.
Now, I own a restaurant but I don't know what our inspector would say if I started butchering animals we dragged in off the street. While he may be fine with it, it's the appearance to the unknowing customer that may cause problems and, possibly, nothing beyond that.
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