Deer blood is used as anutritional supplement in some parts of the world, particularly inEast Asia.[citation needed]
It is oftenfreeze dried to preserve its viability as an ingestible substance, but only after it is sterilized to eradicate biological health threats (such asbacterial infection andparasites, that may reside in the blood while the deer is alive).[citation needed]
Freeze dried deer blood is a dark red powder with a highiron content, and is high inprotein.[citation needed]
In the Eastern Hemisphere, deer blood is sold as a commercial product.[citation needed]
In the Western Hemisphere, it is reported[by whom?] that some hunters drink the blood of the first deer they ever kill (such an instance was popularized in the 1984 American filmRed Dawn.)[1][better source needed]