Venison

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Venison is the modern term for the meat of deer, elk, red deer, moose, caribou, and pronghorn. Venison may be eaten as steaks, roasts, sausages and ground meat. Organ meats are sometimes eaten, but would not be called venison; rather, they are called humble, as in the phrase "humble pie." Venison is lower in calories, cholesterol and fat than most cuts of beef, pork, or lamb. According to the USDA Nutrient Database (2007), cooked lean venison contains approximately 150 calories per 100g/3.5oz serving, and is a useful source of the following micronutrients: niacin, potassium, phosphorus, iron, selenium and zinc.^[1] Historically, venison (a Norman French term) was any edible game that had been caught whilst hunting, and included hare, boar and wild goat.

Venison has enjoyed a rise in popularity in recent years, owing to the meat's lower fat content. Also, venison can often be obtained cheaper than beef by hunting (in some areas a doe license can cost as little as a few dollars), many families use it as a one to one substitute for beef especially in the US mid-south, Mississippi Valley and Appalachia. In many areas this increased demand has led to a rise in the number of deer farms. What was once considered a meat for unsophisticated rural dwellers has become as exotic as ostrich meat to urbanites. Venison jerky can be purchased in such grocery stores, ordered online, and is served on some airlines. Venison burgers are typically so lean as to require the addition of fat in the form of bacon, olive oil or cheese, or blending with beef, to achieve parity with hamburger cooking time, mouth-feel, and taste. Some deer breeders have expressed an interest in breeding for a fatter animal that displays more marbling in the meat.

Since it is unknown whether chronic wasting disease, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy among deer (similar to mad cow disease), can pass from deer to humans through the consumption of venison, there have been some fears of contamination of the food supply [1]. Recently, several known cases of the disease have occurred in deer farms throughout the United States and European farms in Scandinavia may have also had several cases. Farmers now have had tests developed especially for the particular species they raise to obtain better results than those used on cattle.