Is it safe to eat venison tartare from an animal that was harvested in the wild?

Question

I recently watched a cooking show on how to prepare venison tartare. There was an explanation given by the host stating that the venison was acquired at a local deer farm. There was no mention regarding meat that was harvested in the wild.

Deer farming keeps the deer in a controlled environment where their diet is controlled as well as the deer receiving the proper vaccinations.

Since wild deer don't have a controlled environment or vaccinations, would it still be safe to eat raw meat from deer harvested in the wild?

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 28 '18 at 19:44

10

If you really want to eat that raw, freezing the meat at -4 deg F (-20°C) or lower for 30 days or more should kill most if not all the types of parasites found in deer.

Different parasites die at different temperatures, for example:

Anisakiasis (fish worms) can be treated at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time).
Trichinellosis (pork worms) treated by freezing pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5°F (-15°C) to kill any worms.
Venison -4°F (-20°C) or below for 4 days.

edited Mar 28 '18 at 19:44

Rodrigo de Azevedo

653
5
16

answered Jul 24 '17 at 12:44

Netduke

1,084
7
13

30 days! Oh, wow! – steelersquirrel Jul 24 '17 at 18:57
Do you have a reference for this claim? I'd have suspected a lower temp would have been needed. – Batman Jul 24 '17 at 19:39
Ok, I guess I was off by 4 degrees. I revised my answer to be more accurate and linked to the articles – Netduke Jul 24 '17 at 19:50

Is it safe to eat venison tartare from an animal that was harvested in the wild?

1 Answers1