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| Plans to issue warning over game meat risks delayed | Plans to issue warning over game meat risks delayed |
| (30 days later) | |
| The Food Standards Agency has suspended plans to warn pregnant women and young children about the health risks of eating game shot with lead ammunition, prompting confusion and dismay among campaigners. | The Food Standards Agency has suspended plans to warn pregnant women and young children about the health risks of eating game shot with lead ammunition, prompting confusion and dismay among campaigners. |
| The agency, which issues official guidance to consumers, had been expected to issue a statement on Wednesday warning vulnerable groups against eating game such as deer, grouse, pheasant and boar killed with lead shot. | The agency, which issues official guidance to consumers, had been expected to issue a statement on Wednesday warning vulnerable groups against eating game such as deer, grouse, pheasant and boar killed with lead shot. |
| It was also expected to advise other adults who regularly ate wild game shot with lead pellets to cut their consumption to avoid serious lead poisoning. | It was also expected to advise other adults who regularly ate wild game shot with lead pellets to cut their consumption to avoid serious lead poisoning. |
| The lead ammunition group, the government's advisory panel, decided on Tuesday to release the guidance, but that decision has been overturned. Sources close to the panel said no clear reason had been given. | The lead ammunition group, the government's advisory panel, decided on Tuesday to release the guidance, but that decision has been overturned. Sources close to the panel said no clear reason had been given. |
| The panel – which includes the UK's main shooting and conservation bodies such as the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT), the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, and the Countryside Alliance – had been investigating the issue since its inception in 2009. | The panel – which includes the UK's main shooting and conservation bodies such as the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT), the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, and the Countryside Alliance – had been investigating the issue since its inception in 2009. |
| Debbie Pain, conservation director of WWT and an authority on lead shot in game birds, who has played a key role in formulating the advice to consumers, said: "They've now said they're delaying publication but I don't know what that means. Is it a week or a month? I have no idea at all." | Debbie Pain, conservation director of WWT and an authority on lead shot in game birds, who has played a key role in formulating the advice to consumers, said: "They've now said they're delaying publication but I don't know what that means. Is it a week or a month? I have no idea at all." |
| A study by the European Food Standard Agency published in July and based on studies of 144,000 food samples collected over a nine-year period from across the EU found very high levels of lead in pheasant and boar. Although those meats are not often eaten in the UK, the results were so high they skewed the overall findings for all meat products tested. | A study by the European Food Standard Agency published in July and based on studies of 144,000 food samples collected over a nine-year period from across the EU found very high levels of lead in pheasant and boar. Although those meats are not often eaten in the UK, the results were so high they skewed the overall findings for all meat products tested. |
| The EFSA report said: "Particularly high results were recorded for wild boar meat and pheasant meat, presumably associated with the use of lead ammunition. The many high results for wild boar meat skewed the distribution for this food category so that the mean exceeded the 95th percentile." | The EFSA report said: "Particularly high results were recorded for wild boar meat and pheasant meat, presumably associated with the use of lead ammunition. The many high results for wild boar meat skewed the distribution for this food category so that the mean exceeded the 95th percentile." |
| Expert studies by the UK government's Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) presented to the lead ammunition group cited grouse, duck, partridge and deer as potential sources of lead poisoning for consumers in the UK. The use of lead shot in duck-shooting was banned in the UK in 1999 but was still widespread, the agency said. | Expert studies by the UK government's Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) presented to the lead ammunition group cited grouse, duck, partridge and deer as potential sources of lead poisoning for consumers in the UK. The use of lead shot in duck-shooting was banned in the UK in 1999 but was still widespread, the agency said. |
| An FSA spokesman said the decision to suspend publication had been taken "this week". He confirmed that the warnings "will be about lead and exposures to lead and advice for people lessening their exposures to lead. It will be directed at the small number of people who eat lead shot game on a regular basis." | An FSA spokesman said the decision to suspend publication had been taken "this week". He confirmed that the warnings "will be about lead and exposures to lead and advice for people lessening their exposures to lead. It will be directed at the small number of people who eat lead shot game on a regular basis." |
| He added: "We're not publishing it today. It is still under review and we still haven't quite got it ready yet. We're looking to be publishing something on lead ammunition and small birds and larger animals but we not publishing today." | He added: "We're not publishing it today. It is still under review and we still haven't quite got it ready yet. We're looking to be publishing something on lead ammunition and small birds and larger animals but we not publishing today." |
| He said the FSA had not yet decided when the advice would be published, but that it would appear "shortly". | He said the FSA had not yet decided when the advice would be published, but that it would appear "shortly". |
| The Fera report, given to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2010, said evidence on the scale of the risk to consumers from contaminated game was unclear and inconsistent, but there was a consensus that no levels of lead in food were safe. | The Fera report, given to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2010, said evidence on the scale of the risk to consumers from contaminated game was unclear and inconsistent, but there was a consensus that no levels of lead in food were safe. |
| It stated: "Humans that eat game animals that have been shot with lead ammunition are at risk of poisoning from the fragments of bullets or pellets that remain embedded in the meat or in other edible tissues; the risk from biologically-incorporated lead in game appears to be low. | It stated: "Humans that eat game animals that have been shot with lead ammunition are at risk of poisoning from the fragments of bullets or pellets that remain embedded in the meat or in other edible tissues; the risk from biologically-incorporated lead in game appears to be low. |
| "Radiographs of shot deer have shown that when a lead bullet breaks up on impact some fragments are too small to be visible to the unaided eye and would probably be retained in the meat after butchering. People in communities that depend heavily on hunting for subsistence are likely to be most exposed." | "Radiographs of shot deer have shown that when a lead bullet breaks up on impact some fragments are too small to be visible to the unaided eye and would probably be retained in the meat after butchering. People in communities that depend heavily on hunting for subsistence are likely to be most exposed." |
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