In Sweden, game is everyday food, not a gourmet curiosity. Here is what the menu words mean, how the meat legally gets to your plate, what the Swedish Food Agency says about lead and parasites, and what you can pack for home.
When you need this
You see älg, ren or vildsvin on a menu and want to know what you are ordering. You are in Norrland or Swedish Lapland in autumn and want to eat something local. You are pregnant or travelling with small children and have heard about lead in game. A host offers you moose sausage, or you want to take reindeer meat home in your suitcase.
What you will find on the menu
All of it sits under vilt, game. Hunters shot about 62,300 moose in the 2025/26 season alone, so moose is anything but rare.
| Menu word | Animal | Typical forms |
|---|---|---|
| Älg | Moose (European elk) | Steak, stew, mince, sausage |
| Ren / renkött | Reindeer | Fillet, renskav (shaved reindeer meat), suovas |
| Vildsvin | Wild boar | Steak, mince, sausage, mostly in the south |
| Rådjur | Roe deer | Steak, stew, in season |
| Viltgryta | Mixed game | Game stew, an autumn classic |
Reindeer is not game
This is the one that surprises visitors. Every reindeer in Sweden is owned and herded, mostly by Sámi reindeer herders, and the animals are slaughtered, not hunted. The herds are gathered for separation and slaughter in autumn and early winter. The state’s price supplement on reindeer meat is paid only for animals slaughtered at a control slaughterhouse.
The dish to try is suovas: reindeer meat dry-salted and smoked over an open fire in a traditional hut, then eaten in thin slices, grilled, or with lingonberries. It is made year round, and Slow Food lists suovas from Swedish Sápmi as one of its Presidium products.
When and where game is on menus
Fresh game follows the hunting calendar. The Swedish hunting seasons put it like this:
| Season | What appears |
|---|---|
| From 16 August | Roe buck |
| From 1 September | Moose in Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland, Västernorrland and parts of Värmland, Dalarna and Gävleborg |
| From 8 October | Moose in the rest of Sweden |
| Autumn and early winter | Fresh reindeer from the slaughter |
| 31 January | Most big game closes |
| All year | Young wild boar; frozen, smoked and cured game |
So the classic game window is autumn, and Norrland is the heartland: moose season starts there first, and reindeer is a local staple. Wild boar is hunted in southern and central Sweden and turns up there on menus and in farm shops.
How game reaches your plate
Swedish game reaches a kitchen by one of three legal routes.
| Route | Who checks it |
|---|---|
| Approved game-handling plant (vilthanteringsanläggning) | An official veterinarian or assistant from Livsmedelsverket inspects every carcass; bear and boar are tested for trichinella |
| Restaurant or shop registered with its municipality | Buys small quantities directly from hunters; the municipality is the control authority |
| Hunter selling small quantities directly | The hunter is responsible; bear may never be sold this way |
Only meat from a game-handling plant can be sold anywhere in the EU; the other two routes serve consumers directly. Road-killed animals can never go to a game-handling plant. Both of the main routes are legal, so the useful question in a restaurant is simply: where did this come from?
One more thing a label will not always tell you: EU mandatory origin labelling covers beef, pork, lamb, goat and poultry, but not game or reindeer. Origin on game is required only where leaving it out would mislead, so a “Swedish” game dish is worth asking about.
Wild boar: trichinella and cooking
Wild boar and bear can carry trichinella, a parasite. Livsmedelsverket’s line for consumers is that all boar meat you buy should be safe and tested.
- Hunters selling to the public: since rules adopted in 2024, a hunter with game-examiner training, an extra boar course and county board registration may sell 10 whole boar plus the meat of 10 boar a year. Each must be tested for trichinella, and for cesium in some areas.
- You can ask to see it: when buying direct, you are entitled to see the test result and the hunter’s registration code.
- Local shops and restaurants may take up to 25 unskinned boar a year from any hunter, and must test before selling.
- Minced boar sold must be sampled for salmonella and labelled to be cooked through.
In the kitchen: whole boar cuts may be a little pink inside if trichinella-free, but boar mince should always be cooked through. Cold smoking, salting or drying does not kill salmonella and other microbes, so be wary of homemade, raw or cold-smoked boar gifts, and never taste raw boar mince.
Meat a hunter keeps for their own household needs no test, although Livsmedelsverket recommends one for boar.
Lead, pregnancy and children
Game shot with lead ammunition can carry lead fragments up to 10 cm beyond the visible bullet wound. Livsmedelsverket tells hunters to cut away that margin. The agency says game is fine to eat when it has been cleaned properly. When you cannot know that, its advice is:
| Who | Steak and fillet | Mince, skav, sausage, stew pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Children under seven; women pregnant or planning pregnancy within three months | Fine | Avoid |
| Everyone else, including breastfeeding women | Fine | At most once a month |
The reason is that processed products more often contain meat from near the wound. An EU ban on lead shot for hunting is still only a draft: the Commission sent it to the Council in July 2026, with a seven-year transition, and it covers shotgun pellets, not the rifle bullets used for moose.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease of moose, reindeer and other deer, has been found in Sweden only in a few old moose cows in Norrbotten and Västerbotten since 2019. Livsmedelsverket says nothing indicates it spreads to people who eat the meat.
Cesium: the Chernobyl legacy
Fallout from Chernobyl in 1986 still leaves radioactive cesium-137 in wild boar, reindeer and other game in parts of Sweden. Livsmedelsverket says the health risk from cesium in Swedish food is small. Meat from reindeer and game that is sold must stay under 1,500 becquerel per kilo (other foods: 300). The highest levels are in wild boar shot in parts of Västmanland, Uppsala and Gävleborg counties, which is why boar from fallout areas must be tested before it is sold.
Taking game meat home
| Going to | Rule |
|---|---|
| Another EU country | Meat travels freely for personal use |
| Great Britain | Currently no venison, beef, pork or lamb from the EU; poultry allowed |
| Any other non-EU country | Your home country’s rules apply; check before you fly |
| Anywhere | Bear meat may not be exported from Sweden |
The British rule is the trap: GOV.UK currently lists venison among the meats travellers may not bring from the EU, citing animal disease outbreaks. Check the page before packing, because the list moves. Coming the other way, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are exempt from the EU’s meat ban, so reindeer meat bought there can come into Sweden; the details are in bringing food to Sweden.
Practical information
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fresh moose | From 1 September (north) or 8 October (south) to 31 January |
| Fresh reindeer | Autumn and early winter slaughter |
| Boar test | Trichinella for all boar sold; cesium in fallout areas |
| Cesium limit for game sold | 1,500 Bq/kg |
| Lead advice | Under-sevens and pregnancy: steak and fillet, not mince or skav, if cleaning is unknown |
| Restaurant and shop prices | Vary by place, cut and season; not published here |
| Into Great Britain from the EU | No venison (check GOV.UK) |
FAQ
Is moose meat served in Swedish restaurants?
Yes. Moose is common game in Sweden; hunters shot about 62,300 in the 2025/26 season. Restaurants buy it from game-handling plants approved by the Swedish Food Agency, or directly from hunters if the restaurant is registered for that with its municipality. You will see it most in autumn and in the north, as stews, mince, steaks and sausages.
Is reindeer meat the same as game?
No. Every reindeer in Sweden is owned and herded, mostly by Sámi reindeer herders, and the meat comes from the autumn and winter slaughter, not from hunting. The state price supplement on reindeer meat is paid only for animals slaughtered at a control slaughterhouse. On menus reindeer sits next to game, and the Sámi speciality suovas is salted, smoked reindeer meat.
Is wild boar meat safe to eat in Sweden?
Yes, when it comes through the legal routes. Wild boar can carry trichinella, so boar handled by game plants, shops, restaurants or hunters selling to the public must be tested. Some areas also require a cesium test. Cook boar mince through; whole cuts may be slightly pink if trichinella-free. Avoid raw or cold-smoked homemade boar.
Can I eat game in Sweden when pregnant?
Steaks and fillets, yes. Livsmedelsverket’s lead advice says that if you cannot know the game was properly cleaned around the bullet wound, children under seven and women who are or plan to be pregnant within three months should avoid mince, skav, sausage and stew pieces, which more often contain meat near the wound.
Is Swedish game meat radioactive?
Only slightly, in some areas. Chernobyl fallout in 1986 left cesium-137 in parts of Sweden, and it still shows up in wild boar, reindeer and other game. Meat sold must stay under 1,500 becquerel per kilo, and Livsmedelsverket says the health risk from cesium in Swedish food is small. The highest levels are in boar from parts of Västmanland, Uppsala and Gävleborg.
Can I take moose or reindeer meat home from Sweden?
Within the EU, yes: meat travels freely for personal use. Great Britain currently bans venison, beef, pork and lamb brought from the EU, so moose and reindeer products stay behind. For other non-EU countries your home country sets the rules. Bear meat may not be exported from Sweden at all.
Related guides
- Swedish hunting seasons — the calendar that decides when fresh game reaches menus.
- Reindeer in Sweden — the living animals, and what to do when they block the road.
- Sámi culture guide — the people and herding tradition behind suovas.
- Where to see moose — for when you would rather watch one than eat one.
- Swedish food guide — the rest of the Swedish table, season by season.
Facts verified 2026-10-06. Sources: Livsmedelsverket (Swedish Food Agency), Sametinget, Sveriges riksdag, Jordbruksverket, the European Commission, the Council of the EU, GOV.UK and Slow Food — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.