What are the risks to human health from bushmeat?
Government advice to UK consumers is that illegal imported food, including meat and bushmeat, should not be eaten because it has evaded official controls designed to verify compliance with food safety standards and could therefore pose a danger to human health. The FSA believes that the main risks to public health from illegal imported meat and bushmeat are those associated with well-known food pathogens, which will be destroyed by cooking. However, a study was commissioned to give an overview of the microbiological risks associated with illegal imports of bushmeat. The study concluded that the risk of food borne illnesses from consumption of bushmeat appeared to be very low, and that the risk of food borne illnesses from cross contamination was also minimal.
