News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Matt Blake, a worker at Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe, ties up a sausage stick at the Alpena location on Monday.

ALPENA — As Michigan’s firearm deer season continues through Nov. 30, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development urges residents to take caution when purchasing venison products from unlicensed facilities — especially online venues.

MDARD said in a news release that hunters can take deer to a custom meat processor that does not have a license if the venison is simply cut and wrapped, but the meat can then only be consumed by the hunter and not resold.

Jennifer Bonsky, MDARD Food and Dairy Division acting director, said in a statement that research and checking is the best way to prevent illness.

“Many people assume food items sold online are from licensed and inspected companies, but this is not always the case,” Bonsky said. “Before you buy any food, and at this time of year particularly venison, make sure the food was processed at a facility licensed by MDARD. Our staff works tirelessly to make sure businesses are following the law to keep your food safe and family healthy.”

Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe, a family-run business that specializes in different meats, is licensed by MDARD to take others’ wild game and process it into brats, sausage, jerky, and more. The shop also sells most products online.

Brian Peterson, owner of Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe in Alpena, said that every wild game order that comes in is separated from other orders and goes through what’s known as a hazard analysis critical control point system to make sure the process is safe for consumers.

“Everything that’s cited as possible hazards, contaminations, or misplacements can be identified,” Peterson said. “If somebody got sick from this batch of meat, we can identify what the meat was cooked with and anything else that was processed that day.”

Peterson has taken control process classes at Michigan State University and made sure the family’s process, which has been around for five generations, is scientifically safe.

Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe takes any wild game, but it must come in already butchered. The business used to butcher animals, but removed the assembly line.

“Consistently keeping that, you know, five generations of sausage-making, that we’re not deviating from what made us what we are,” Peterson said. “We’re never going to be a factory, because you have to change the variances. The next level of being like an Oscar Meyer factory is you have to put all the stuff in it that changes it from handmade craft sausage to what is in a grocery store.”