The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has published a report on their investigation of the lead contamination in hunter-harvested deer. Click here to view the report. A permanent link to the report is available by clicking on “Resources” in the menu and scrolling down to “Venison Donations”.

More information will be available regarding MDA’s venison donation program. We will keep you informed as we receive updates.

Food-shelf venison program to resume in Minn

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A program that allows deer hunters to donate their venison to Minnesota food shelves will resume this fall, but with new precautions to address fears about lead fragments in the meat.

In April, the Department of Agriculture ordered food shelves to destroy 12,000 pounds of venison after tests showed small lead particles in venison burger. The tests came after similar findings in North Dakota.

No human illnesses have been reported from lead in venison.

State agriculture officials say they don’t know exactly how the program will be altered this fall, but deer hunters and food shelf organizers expect it to involve how meat is processed.

Newell Searle of Second Harvest Heartland says cuts of meat will be the now be the norm, instead of ground meat.