Book excerpt: Game meat, previously often considered as an 'exotic' food, or being relevant only in remote regions, is becoming increasingly popular. In order to provide sufficient quantities of nutritious, wholesome and safe game meat, a number of measures have to be implemented along the food chain- from the forest/field or fenced area where the animals are harvested, to the point of consumption. These involve monitoring and control of diseases of game animals transmissible to man, technology and hygiene of game meat processing and specifics of products manufactured from game meat. This book combines 30 contributions of various experts in the field, addressing four main topics: i.e. 'hygiene and management of microbial contamination in fresh meat from game', 'zoonoses and epidemiology', 'risk assessment and quality assurance along the game meat chain' and 'quality issues in game meat products'. The focus on Europe is expanded by presenting specifics of the game meat chain in African and Asian regions, with a view to provide information on 'bushmeat' consumed by the indigenous population. Similar to the first volume in this series, this volume follows a 'from forest to fork' approach and is targeted at scientists in academia and industry, graduate students as well as at governmental officials in veterinary public health and food safety.