FDA to Ban Sale of Raw Oysters From Gulf of Mexico

The FDA is stepping over the line on this issue, in my opinion:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_re_us/us_fda_oysters

Federal officials plan to ban sales of raw oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico unless the shellfish are treated to destroy potentially deadly bacteria — a requirement that opponents say could deprive diners of a delicacy cherished for generations.

The Gulf region supplies about two-thirds of U.S. oysters, and some people in the $500 million industry argue that the anti-bacterial procedures are too costly. They insist adequate measures are already being taken to battle germs, including increased refrigeration on oyster boats and warnings posted in restaurants.

About 15 people die each year in the United States from raw oysters infected with Vibrio vulnificus, which typically is found in warm coastal waters between April and October. Most of the deaths occur among people with weak immune systems caused by health problems like liver or kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, or AIDS.

The anti-bacterial process treats oysters with a method similar to pasteurization, using mild heat, freezing temperatures, high pressure and low-dose gamma radiation.

But doing so "kills the taste, the texture," DeFelice said. "For our local connoisseurs, people who've grown up eating oysters all their lives, there's no comparison" between salty raw oysters and the treated kind.

Treated oysters are "not as bright, the texture seems different," said Donald Link, head chef and owner of the Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant in New Orleans.

"This is an area the government shouldn't meddle in," Link said. "What's next? They're going to tell us we can't eat our beef rare?"

much more at the link

I don't think a ban is called for, nor is it a good idea. Make places that sell/serve raw oysters put up large signs in plain view warning customers that eating raw oysters could result in serious injury or death and let people decide for themselves what they wish to eat.

why not put a big sign up at every grocery/supermarket/deli/restaurant that says that eating something bought/served/cooked here may make you sick or kill you.

Save a lot of energy and effort on recalls.

We're talking 15 people a year. How many people die from e. coli or salmonella in a given year? Eating can be risky to one's health.

We could probably do away with the entire FDA. All we need are signs that say having anything from the outside of your body, no matter where/how produced, introduced to your body may hurt/kill you.

From the article in the OP:

The FDA is promoting a ban because high-risk groups are not heeding warnings about raw oysters, and millions of other people may not know they are vulnerable.

The rule would not affect oysters harvested outside the Gulf. Oysters are harvested up and down the West and East coasts, but the bacteria is not found in such high concentrations there."

People aren't heeding warnings so nobody will be allowed to eat them? It's obviously an education issue, since they claim millions of other people may not know they're vulnerable. There's a certain blowfish in Japan called http://japanesefood.about.com/cs/seafoodfish/a/fugublowfish.htm">Fugu that can kill you if it's not prepared exactly right, yet people choose to eat it all the time. Why do you suppose that is? Give people the information they need to make an informed decision, but let them make the decision. For God's sake, they're oysters, not arsenic cookies.

This will put the Gulf oyster business out of business since the same restrictions would not apply to the East & West coasts.

Why dismiss one regulation based on a warning on a sign. Seems we could, by that mentality, end the entire regulation of food with enough warning signs posted anywhere you can by food or medicine. Spinach MIGHT at any given time have some sort of manure based disease risk. Screw testing and recalls, you've been warned. Same thing with mad cow.

For the record, I don't care about the Gulf oyster business. I'm sure that was pretty obvious up front though.

never touched them again.

Of course that didn't stop me from eating the delicious oysters up here in New England.

This is just stupid overstepping. Damn govt agencies looking for a reason to exist.

And for the record I have never understood why anyone feels the need to cook an osyter, they are perfect the way they come out of the Gulf.

But I have to admit the shadow of death passes before my eyes now when selecting raw shellfish from the menu.

But doing so "kills the taste, the texture,"
....and the oysters themselves too of course.

She had just retired after working 35 years for a Westinghouse factory in Vicksburg Mississippi. To celebrate her retirement, Aunt Betty, and all of her children planed to meet up in New Orleans, for a night on the town, then take a flight to Cancun Mexico. Aunt Betty was the only one of them to have raw oysters in N.O. and by the time they got to Mexico, she wasn’t feeling well, and her legs started swelling and turning black etc.. They took her to the local Hospital there in Mexico where she deteriorated, then they flew her to Texas where she went into a coma and died within a couple of days. I don’t know the name of the bacteria but it was the common one in raw oysters that causes problems.

Not because of the bacteria,though
Huricanne Katrina dumped so much toxic waste from Super Fund clean up sites into the waters along the Gulf Coast that any food from the region is dangerous to eat.

can you use food stamps to buy them?

prepackaged at the supermarket.