Changes in venison quality important to the consumer during venison harvesting and storage

Food quality is a set of characteristics of the food product that can be evaluated for each kind of food. Several characteristics are identified for each of them: degree of freshness, energy value, amounts of protein, vitamins, micro- and macronutrients as well as various additives etc. However, the main characteristics of quality food of animal origin relate to its healthiness and safety for the consumer. From the perspective of a producer, quality represents specific characteristics to be achieved by the producer, and product quality is one of the basic elements of economic development to produce competitive products. Food production and processing, especially food of animal origin, is a complicated process that involves several stages and production process deviations affected by risk factors, and the elimination of the deviations is usually associated with significant financial expenses. Risk factors can appear at one or more stages and pass from one production stage to another, thereby negatively affecting the subsequent stages and the final product. In the production of venison, one of the groups of risk factors relates to venison harvesting, pre-processing and storage. Properly processed venison is usually clean and its microbiological contamination is not high, while non-compliance with venison storage requirements as well as bacterial contamination of venison in case of the non-compliance with storage requirements should be considered as a cause of possible materialization of some risks. Therefore, the present research aims to identify changes in venison quality important to the consumer during venison harvesting and storage. Microbiological control of venison is an important factor that affects the quality of the product, its shelf life and, in the long term, the competitiveness of the enterprise in the market. The research has found that venison could be stored for 45 to 50 days in vacuum packaging at a temperature of +3 to +4 C, provided that all the hygiene requirements are met during venison processing, which makes it possible not only to sell the product in the domestic market but also export the fresh venison.