Sarcocystis in Elk

Would you eat it

  • Yes

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • No

    Votes: 4 80.0%

  • Total voters
    5

Wyo_Roadhunter

Active Member
Messages
832
So the elk I shot when I was getting him broke down to pack out I noticed some weird white zig zag things in mainly the back straps and tenderloins but there is some in his quarters too. I sent a picture to the local fish and game officer and he sent it to the disease expert. It turned out to be "sarcocystis". Sounds like it's not harmful to humans but he also said he wouldn't blame me to discard the meat. I told him I worked way to hard to just throw it away and wouldn't feel right if it's really not harmful to humans. So my question is what would you do or have you had it before? From what I've read hard freezing or cooking until atleast 150° internal temp kills it also.

Also posted in the game care forum but figured more people probably see this one.

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Yeah that would not bother me at all.... I am certain my freezer would kill it. At the very least I would make a pile of sausage from it all... Grind it up and you would never know it was there... As mentioned I am certain that we all eat way worse from the restaurants and grocery store... Also I bet there are piles of elk infected on some level that never get noticed. I remember it takes a chunk of time for the infection to develop the visual indication. I bet many elk have been consumed that had a minor or unnoticed infection.
 
Yeah that would not bother me at all.... I am certain my freezer would kill it. At the very least I would make a pile of sausage from it all... Grind it up and you would never know it was there... As mentioned I am certain that we all eat way worse from the restaurants and grocery store... Also I bet there are piles of elk infected on some level that never get noticed. I remember it takes a chunk of time for the infection to develop the visual indication. I bet many elk have been consumed that had a minor or unnoticed infection.

That's what i was thinking too. Just to be safe we are going to grind the whole thing and make summer sausage, burger, breakfast sausage etc since all that is cooked up to 160°. I'll be the MM crash test dummy on this 😂 if you don't see me on here next hunting season don't eat the meat with white zig zags 😂
 
I picked up parasites when I was in Afghanistan in 98, they can really mess with your stomach and intestines. I’ve killed quite a few old predators with green belly and the meat just smells rancid. My daughter got mange mites from a wolf I killed. I’d be asking the Fish and Game for another Tag. Can you your girl friend and Dad stomach the meat and think about those little buddies screwing with your body. Nobody likes to throw away meat.
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This sarcocystis is fairly common in ducks, often referred to as “rice breast disease”. I have always pitched the infected duck meat, but I have heard that it is okay to eat if properly cooked to 150 F or froze to -4 F. Should be okay of you freeze and cook it, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. Don’t feed uncooked parts to dogs or cats.
 
That's what i was thinking too. Just to be safe we are going to grind the whole thing and make summer sausage, burger, breakfast sausage etc since all that is cooked up to 160°. I'll be the MM crash test dummy on this 😂 if you don't see me on here next hunting season don't eat the meat with white zig zags 😂
I can test it for you.... Send it my way...
 

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