Does This Really Have Anything To Do With Public Health?

Pregnant women and children have been warned against eating game such as pheasant, deer and grouse killed with lead shot because it could pose a serious risk to their health.

In an official statement released on Monday, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that everyone who ate lead-shot game regularly should cut down on it because it was potentially toxic.

Hmm, personally, I don’t eat any lead shot I find in game, I roll it to the side of the plate.

But it turns out it’s just as toxic if it’s left in too long, though ‘just as toxic’ might just mean about as much as second hand smoke, i.e. hardly at all…

Certainly, they had a fight on their hands in trying to put this out:

The release of the FSA's advice follows a row last week after its expected publication last Wednesday was delayed following disputes in its expert advising panel, the lead ammunition group, over the terms and extent of the warning.

Hardly surprising. It was, however, welcomed by a certain wildlife pressure group…

The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) has been at the forefront of campaigns against lead shot. Its analysis showed lead shot was to blame for poisoning thousands of waterbirds.

And I guess, since they weren't making much headway with that claim, why not try frightening humans by suggesting it’s poisoning them?

Not that the ones who drink liquid nitrogen will probably care, but still…

Christopher Graffius, head of communications for the BASC, said the risks of eating lead-shot game "should not be exaggerated" and insisted it posed a minimal risk to consumers.

He said that "pound for pound", chocolate had more lead in it than game.

Now, you’re trying to handle an emotive subject with science. You should really know that’s not going to work!

And as Clarissa points out, it's interesting to see how the animal right lobby is branching out to previously unheard depths of insanity. It's not really surprising, since they are clearly losing the argument.