## 1 Introduction  
The control of physical hazards in food, including meat and meat products, remains important in ensuring food safety. Physical hazards are plastic, stones, metals, bones, wood, glass and any other foreign substance that could be found in food [1]. These foreign objects can be unintentionally introduced into food during the process of manufacturing, production, preparation or consumption, as it were, from \"gate to plate\" or \"farm to fork\" [2], or due to food tampering or intentional sabotage and; therefore, this must be monitored at all times in the food production chains. Four factors relating to physical hazards in food that cause a potential risk to consumers have been identified [3]: (1) the size of the foreign object found on/in the food product; (2) the type of the contaminatedfood; (3) the physical characteristics of the foreign object; and (4) the consumer eating the product. While the effects of physical object ingestion may vary from case to case, the risks associated with it include laceration, perforation and possible secondary infections of the mouth, tongue, gums, teeth, oesophagus and other organs of the digestive system of an exposed person [3; 4; 5]. In common with any other process of food manufacturing, game meat production could introduce similar, or more dangerous, physical hazards that must be controlled. Game animal farming, hunting and the manufacture of game meat products could introduce physical hazards at any stage of the process [6]. In the South African context, the Game Theft Act of 1991 grants ownership of game to persons who keep or hold game on land that is sufficiently enclosed [7]. This evolved into a system where game farmers would use defined breeding-intensive (animals maintained in small to moderate predator-controlled camps) and semi-extensive farming systems (larger environments to self-sustain the game population). Therefore, farmers have the right to trade, breed and harvest/hunt game animals as part of their game farm management strategies. Some of the strategies employed include the promotion of breeding for trophy hunting (horn size at a pre-determined age), and harvesting of meat from those animals that do not meet trophy standards [8]. The two most common methods used to kill game are (1) through rifle shooting during hunting or harvesting; and (2) aerial (helicopter) shotgun shooting during harvesting [9; 10; 11]. These methods utilise different calibres and bullet types. Figures 1a,b and 2a,b depict examples of the different ammunition used to kill game animals during helicopter and rifle thorax shot killing. Most hunting ammunition, including pellets used in shotgun cartridges, are made of different metals such as lead (90-95%), copper, zinc, tin and other synthetic materials to make it strong and effective for hunting and killing purposes [12; 13; 14]. Ammunition used during killing generally tends to fragment once it hits the target so as to increase the striking force whilst also ensuring that it does not penetrate all the way through the target [15]. In addition, bone splintering, classifiable as a dangerous hazard, generally occurs when the bullet/s or pellets hit the skeletal structure of the animal or as a result of an animal falling after being hit, especially when it was hit whilst in motion [16]. Figure 1: **(a,b). ** Shotgun cartridge (35 g; 5.2 mm pellets) used for helicopter shooting. Figure 2: **(a,b). ** Bullet (30.06 rifle; 150 g) used for rifle thorax shot killing (traditional hunting). The prohibition of manufacturing of foodstuffs which are contaminated, impure or decayed, or are harmful or injurious to human health is advocated worldwide [17; 18]. The control and monitoring of physical hazards in game meat processing is not well-developed, implemented or documented in developing countries [19].