Japan MAFF Pet Food Safety Recent Topics — Wild Game (ジビエ) / EC Sales / Lead Risks
English Summary — Key Recent Topics
1. Wild-game pet food (ジビエペットフード / Game Meat Pet Food)
As wild bird/animal damage to agriculture, forestry and fisheries has intensified, the government is promoting the expanded use of captured wild birds/animals. Some are increasingly used as pet food ingredients. However, wild birds/animals are highly likely to be infected with parasites and bacteria, and risks from lead shot (鉛玉) used in hunting have been pointed out — MAFF is therefore publicizing these risks to operators.
Manufacturing control examples for wild-game pet food are provided.
2. Diversification of Sales Channels
Sales via EC sites (e-commerce) allow sellers to reliably identify purchasers, but sales through flea-market sites and SNS, while not illegal, often make it difficult to verify the seller's name and identity, creating a danger of delayed incident response.
3. Required Actions Even for Flea-Market / SNS Sales
For repeated sales:
- Pet Food Safety Act–based labeling (ペットフード安全法に基づく表示) is required — see the next pages for reference materials.
- Those who manufacture or import themselves must file notification as a manufacturer/importer (製造業者・輸入業者としての届出).
4. Lead Upper Limit
The Pet Food Safety Act sets the upper limit for lead (鉛) in pet food at 3 µg/g (３μg/g).
5. Wildlife Hygiene Notes
- Metal detectors (金属探知機): confirm the inspection method specified by the testing-instrument manufacturer before use.
- Wild animals (野生獣) generally have a high probability of parasite / bacterial infection. When using wild-game meat, cook sufficiently (十分に加熱) to manage food-poisoning risks and produce safe pet food for dogs and cats.
- Pet Food Safety Act Manufacturing-Method Standard: pet food must not use raw materials that contain harmful substances or are contaminated (or suspected of contamination) by pathogenic microorganisms (有害な物質を含み、若しくは病原微生物により汚染され、又はこれらの疑いがある原材料を用いてはならない).
- Wild deer/boar meat under shipment restriction per the Nuclear Disaster Special Measures Act (原子力災害対策特別措置法) qualifies as "raw material suspected of containing harmful substances" (有害な物質を含む疑いがある原材料) — refrain from using it in pet food.
6. Pet Food Standards & Specifications #1 (ペットフードの基準・規格 その1)
- Pet food standards are set by the Ministerial Ordinance on Component Standards of Pet Feed (愛玩動物用飼料の成分規格等に関する省令).
- Manufacturing-method standards define substances prohibited during manufacture. Pathogenic microorganisms can multiply not only during the process but also when wetted by condensation during storage (保管中の結露等水にぬれたりすることでも繁殖するため、十分に注意が必要).
- Health damage to pets from Salmonella etc. attributed to pet food is occasionally reported.
- Labeling standards require product name, ingredient names, best-before date, business name & address, and country of origin in Japanese. Many voluntary recalls result from mislabeling of best-before date or ingredients.
7. Manufacturing-Method Standards (ペットフードの製造方法の基準)
Classification | Requirement ---|--- 有害な物質 (Harmful substances) | Must not use raw materials that contain harmful substances or are contaminated / suspected of contamination by pathogenic microorganisms (有害な物質を含み、若しくは病原微生物により汚染され、又はこれらの疑いがある原材料を用いてはならない) 加熱・乾燥 (Heat / drying) | When heating or drying, use a method with efficacy sufficient to remove microorganisms that derive from the raw materials and are capable of growing (加熱し、又は乾燥する場合は、原材料等に由来し、かつ、発育し得る微生物を除去するのに十分な効力を有する方法で行うこと)
Source: pdf-raw/japan-2026/jp_petfood_safety_overview.pdf MAFF Consumer & Safety Bureau overview slides, December 2025 (令和7年12月)
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日本語原文 (Original Japanese Text)
ペットフードの安全をめぐる最近のトピック / Recent Topics in Pet Food Safety
野生獣肉利用ペットフード（ジビエペットフード）/ Wild-game pet food:
- 野生鳥獣による農林水産業の被害が深刻化 (Wild bird/animal damage to agriculture is intensifying)
- 捕獲した野生鳥獣の利用拡大を政府全体で推進 (Government is promoting the expanded use of captured wild animals)
- 寄生虫や細菌等に感染している可能性が高く (High likelihood of parasite/bacterial infection)
- 狩猟に用いる鉛玉によるリスクも指摘 (Lead-shot risks from hunting have been pointed out)
- 当該リスクについて事業者への周知を実施 (Publicizing these risks to operators)
販売方法の多様化 / Diversification of sales channels:
- ECサイトでのペットフードの販売 (EC site sales)
- フリマサイトやSNSでの販売 (Flea-market and SNS sales)
- 事故対応に遅れが生じる危険性 (Risk of delayed incident response)
野生獣肉利用量及び内訳の推移（t）/ Wild-game meat usage breakdown (t):
- 513 t (15%) → 489 t (24%) → 656 t (33%) → 664 t (6%) — ratios shown as percentages within year
ペットフード安全法に基づく表示 (Labeling under the Pet Food Safety Act):
- ①ペットフード安全法に基づく表示が必要 (Labeling required under the Act)
- ②自ら製造・輸入して販売する場合は製造業者・輸入業者としての届出が必要 (Self-manufactured/imported sales require filing as manufacturer/importer)
ペットフードの基準・規格 その1 / Standards & Specifications #1:
- ペットフードは「愛玩動物用飼料の成分規格等に関する省令」により基準・規格が定められている (Pet food standards are set by the Ministerial Ordinance on Component Standards of Pet Feed)
- 表示の基準: 名称、原材料名、賞味期限、事業者名及び住所、原産国名を日本語で表示 (Labeling standard: name, ingredients, best-before date, operator, country of origin in Japanese)