Selling venision to a butcher

[colly1612]

I have been asked by a butcher to supply him with a few deer carcases to sell onto the public in the form of roasting joints and mince.

I live in Northern Ireland and have completed the DSC Level 1 course in 2008 which covered Large Game Meat hygiene.

The butcher does not have a game dealer licence.

The question is,

Can I legally supply him with the carcases, if so does the DSC Level 1 qualification allow me to supply the carcases already skinned?

Any help would be great

Cheers

Colly

 

[jcampbellsmith]

Colly

http://www.food.gov.uk/aboutus/contactus/

Contact your local office:

Northern Ireland
Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland
10c Clarendon Road
Belfast BT1 3BG
Tel: 02890 417700

Good luck. JCS

 

[bogtrotter]

I am not exactly certain of the legislation in Ireland but believe it is similar to Scotland, in Scotland unlike England you may only sell to a registered venison dealer.

 

[colly1612]

Thanks JCS, I'll give them a call in the morning

 

[colly1612]

Thanks bogtrotter, I'll give the FSA a call and hopefully they can clarify things for me.

 

[danpd]

You may NOT sell skinned carcasses or carcasses altered in any other way under the hunters exemption which we are granted under the food hygiene component of the DSC 1. The moment you skin a carcass for any purpose other than your own consumption you must be registered as a food business with the council and must abide to all rules and regulations they impose.

You may happily sell Gralloched beasts with the skin on to restaurants etc as long as you have tagged the carcass with your hunter ID (DSC certificate number) and certified that you have inspected the beast and found it to be fit for human consumption in your trained opinion, and noted any abnormalities etc on the tag.

 

[Glen Cadwallader]

danpd, you couldnt email me a copy of such a declaration could you please ? info@moraysecurity.com

 

[jcampbellsmith]

G C

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/wildgameguide0611.pdf has been updated in June 2011 and has samples of declarations. BDS among others, sell tags.

Regards JCS

 

[danpd]

JCS is correct, I use tags from either BDS or the NGO.
What I stated was correct for England, but I'm not 100% on the Scottish take on things.
The important point is on page 6 of the PDF that JCS posted, it states that the primary producer exemption relates to in-fur and in-feather game which has been prepared no more than necessary. IE Gralloched, feet off, head off, chest split, but not skinned and butchered into roasting joints, sausages etc. Unless for your own consumption

 

[Glen Cadwallader]

Excellent thank you gents, that's great.

 

[colly1612]

Hi,

I rang the FSA today and this is what the told me.

The FSA told me that I can supply In-Fur carcases to a "local" Butcher in "Small quantities", (they couldn't tell me how far away was local and what number is a small quantity) as long as it has been inspected by a trained hunter (if you have your DSC l/2 then you are a trained hunter), who has deemed the carcase safe for human consumption.

The FSA also said that each carcase has to have a tag attached with details wrote on it, such as,
1 - Who shot it
2 - Contact info
3 - Where it was shot
4 - When it was shot
5 - Reference to cull record book
This is all so that the traceability line can be followed,

You should also have a cull record book, where you can enter more detailed info on the deer and where is was shot.

They also told me to contact the senior environmental health officer of my local council, and have them come out and inspect my deer preperation (Larder) area, so that they can give it the go ahead.

 

[bogtrotter]

You may NOT sell skinned carcasses or carcasses altered in any other way under the hunters exemption which we are granted under the food hygiene component of the DSC 1. The moment you skin a carcass for any purpose other than your own consumption you must be registered as a food business with the council and must abide to all rules and regulations they impose.

You may happily sell Gralloched beasts with the skin on to restaurants etc as long as you have tagged the carcass with your hunter ID (DSC certificate number) and certified that you have inspected the beast and found it to be fit for human consumption in your trained opinion, and noted any abnormalities etc on the tag.

Only applies in England, in Scotland all venison must be sold to a licensed venison dealer whether you have trained hunter status or not.

 

[ferretmanabu]

Butchers round here don't care. They buy it anyway and prefer it skinned.

 

[danpd]

Butchers round here don't care. They buy it anyway and prefer it skinned.

I'm sure they do, but IMHO if you are running a business why would you risk the wrath of the EHO? also from our point of view selling in the skin means less work for us, and more weight therefore more money.