No one in Iowa has reported lead poisoning from deer meat but the possibility has prompted the state to pull donated venison from food pantries.

Iowa’s decision to halt distribution of frozen venison affects up to four food pantries in the Oskaloosa area and several more across southeast Iowa serviced by the Food Bank of Southern Iowa.

Neal Abbott, Food Bank of Southern Iowa executive director, said he has been told to stop handing out the nearly 30,000 pounds of meat in stock from the state-run Help Us Stop Hunger program. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the state agency that administers the program, curtailed distribution after health officials in North Dakota last Wednesday decided to destroy donated venison due to concerns it could be contaminated by lead from bullets.

Other states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, decided to test donated venision after a North Dakota doctor reported finding lead in deer meat hunters had donated, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Abbott said Iowa officials are taking some packages to sample for the possibility of lead contamination.

“Until further notice, I cannot distribute and I’ve told my pantries not to distribute what they already have,” Abbott said.

Abbott said an Iowa Department of Natural Resources official told him, based on what they find with the first batch of samples, they could test additional samples before making a final determination sometime this week.

Abbott said the Food Bank of Southern Iowa distributes about 120 pounds of frozen venison each day.

“Of course we’re all kind of disappointed because it is a good product,” Abbott said. “It’s done a lot of good.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued a statement last week saying, “There have been no reports of lead poisoning in Iowa related to consumption of venison,” but that samples will be evaluated.

The department said more than 25,000 deer have been donated to hunger programs in the past five years, representing more than 4 million meal servings. HUSH is a cooperative effort among deer hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat lockers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. HUSH’s goals are to reduce the deer population and provide high-quality red meat to the needy in Iowa.

Michael Schaffer writes for Oskaloosa (Iowa) Herald and can be reached by email at mschaffer@oskyherald.com