Two news items popped up on my Twitter time line this week which illustrated totally contrasting attitudes to the issue of toxic lead.
Firstly, a news item relating to the discovery of elevated lead levels in hand basins at a primary school in Kelso, Scotland. The article on the BBC website is short of details but the overall picture is that despite the low level of risk a precautionary approach is being taken with regards to lead in water. Bottled water has been given out and pupils are even being moved to a different school. The council’s chief executive Tracey Logan said: “The action taken by the council is very much precautionary but it was felt important to immediately act in order to reduce any potential risks to pupils and staff.” Tim Patterson, joint director of public health for SBC (Scottish Borders Council) and NHS Borders, said: “While the risk to public health is low, all parents and others affected have been provided with public health information to help answer any health-related queries they have.”
The article can be found here on the BBC website.
It’s not clear if such a precautionary approach is being taken by schools involved in the Taste of Game and the Game Changer Project, the subject of this BASC press release. Maybe all of the game that is used as part of this project aimed at schools has been shot with non-toxic lead ammunition? It could be that all those children, school teachers, parents and relevant council executives have all been briefed on the risks of lead, and unlike the Scottish Borders Council have decided against a precautionary approach? This project is in conjunction with the Food Teachers Centre and last year I did ask them about their approach to the issue of toxic lead in game meat – they didn’t reply. However, I will come back to this next week.
Compare and contrast.
Here is a link to the advice on eating game from the Food Standards Agency.
Photo credit: image of lead fragments in game. Taken from Mark Avery’s website
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Very interesting.....
This subject would be worth a BBeye in British Birds
They don't say how many of the young people approached rejected any notion of eating game meat because they were either vegetarians or vegans - or who simply declined in the knowledge of the cruelty involved, directly or indirectly in raising much of the produce on offer. As for those thousands who are alleged to have accepted, were they informed of the FSA advice on the risks of eating this stuff? If they were not, this has to represent a serious dereliction of duty on the part of those responsible for seeking to persuade students to risk ingesting a known toxic substance.
This all smacks of the same desperation as that occurring here:
https://www.britishgamealliance.co.uk/we-want-to-hear-from-you/
Clearly the shooting industry is seeking to sanitise the image created by the massive waste of pheasants killed annually for which no use can be found - other than filling holes in the ground, fuelling incinerators or being dumped behind roadside hedges.
I'm left wondering by what means ‘.... many students [are] now using game meat as part of their GCSE exams.’ – to quote the lady with the unlikely name of Annette Woodcock, head of ‘Taste of Game’.
The survey at https://www.britishgamealliance.co.uk/we-want-to-hear-from-you/. Can't imagine why.