Our hunting organisations are dinosaurs compared with those elsewhere in Europe – and even in many ways compared with those in the USA and Canada.
As Waitrose consider rewording their health warning on their packs of game meat on sale in their stores (see here and here) they should glance at the advice on consumption of lead-shhot game given by the European Hunting Federations (FACE) on this website.
Here is the very prominent advice:
Game meat shot with lead ammunition can contain levels of lead which put frequent consumers, women of childbearing age especially who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, and children at risk.
https://www.leadammunitionguidance.com/lead-ammunition-in-game-meat
… and ..
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation Expert Committee on Food Additives state that there are no safe thresholds when it comes to consumption of lead (EFSA, 2010).
https://www.leadammunitionguidance.com/lead-ammunition-in-game-meat/
Shouldn’t Waitrose take notice of the acceptable FACE of hunting?
I’ve always wanted to be able to get some of the things Waitrose sell, not including birds sold with lead shot included. In the old days they used to advise me on their website that I was over 400 miles from the nearest store. Now I’m 120 miles from the store, but they will deliver, although getting a delivery slot is likely to be a month away.
Probably like most people I’ve only had a holding answer so far, but am full of admiration for you Mark, you don’t let go, do you? Now I have even more things to say if they do not cave in in their reply to me. I did ask them why they did not insist that they would only accept game certified to be lead free.
That might start a change in attitude of the shooters who manage to sell their game, if indeed there are many able to sell such a near worthless product. You, as to be expected, have already suggested this.