title: Wild game consumption habits among Italian shooters: relevance for intakes of cadmium, perfluorooctanesulphonic acid, and137cesium as priority contaminants.
abstract: The consumption habits of 766 Italian shooters (96% males, 4% females), on average 52 years old, have been investigated, in Italy, through the distribution of questionnaires delivered during shooters' attendance to training and teaching courses, in compliance with 853/2004/EC Regulation provisions on food hygiene. The most consumed wild species recorded were pheasant > woodcock > choke among feathered animals, and wild boar > hare > roe deer among mammals, respectively. An average of 100-200 g game per serving (four servings per month) was consumed, with highest intakes of 3000 g per month; meat, liver, and heart were the preferred food items. Mammalian and feathered game was regularly consumed with friends and relatives in 83% and in 60% of cases, respectively. Accounting for an inventoried population of 751,876 shooters in Italy, it is estimated that there is regular consumption of wild game in around the 3% of the Italian population. More than 80% of responders were aware of health risks related to game handling and to food safety issues. Due to the occurrence in wild boar meat and liver of the heavy metal cadmium (Cd), the persistent organic pollutant perfluorooctan sulphonic acid (PFOS), and the radionuclide137cesium (137Cs), it was possible to demonstrate the usefulness of such a food consumption database for intake assessment in this sensitive group of consumers. In high consumers of wild boar, threshold concentrations for intakes have been estimated in the ranges of 48-93 ng g-1for Cd, 35-67 ng g-1for PFOS and 0.20-0.34 Bq kg-1for137Cs.
authors.affiliation: a Servizi Veterinari , Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Modena , Modena , Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.affiliation: b Osservatorio Regionale Sicurezza Alimentare , Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno , Portici (Naples) , Italy.
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baldi
authors.affiliation: b Osservatorio Regionale Sicurezza Alimentare , Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno , Portici (Naples) , Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cavallo
authors.affiliation: b Osservatorio Regionale Sicurezza Alimentare , Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno , Portici (Naples) , Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pellicanò
authors.affiliation: c Dipartimento Alimenti, Nutrizione e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria , Istituto Superiore di sanità , Rome , Italy .
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brambilla
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis*; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D034421:Sus scrofa
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D002104:Cadmium; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
keywords: Italian shooters; contaminants; intake assessment; wild game consumption