Comments on: Uh oh. Industry forces FDA to drop oyster safety plan

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:40:39 +0000

I usually tend to agree with most of your points, Marion, and I truly believe in this day and age our food shouldn’t be killing us. But as a north-easterner , I also tend to not eat warm water oysters unless I am eating them really close to the place of harvest and I really don’t believe that oysters are a year round food. Not all food is safe all year round. If we want a strong food safety system shouldn’t we be looking at our expectations of food availability??

By: What’s On Your Plate? Blog » Blog Archive » Oysters Are Having Raw Times

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:16:02 +0000

[...] the ban is made official raw oysters will undergo months of quick freezing, frozen storage, high [...]

By: K.

K. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:59:10 +0000

That’s sort of what I was wondering, Gina. Yes, 15 deaths a year could be saved – but at the expense of the food itself? I’m afraid that this is a step in the direction of sanitizing food beyond taste, texture, or recognition as food – towards a foodstuf, and away from a food.

Not only is there a need for some level of personal accountability and accepted risk-taking, there’s also a need to return to older ways of thinking about foods. It wasn’t that long ago (since it was still common when I was a child, and I’m not *that* old) that people adhered to only eating oysters in months that contained the letter R; the colder months where vibrio was less likely to contaminate the shellfish. Trying to eat oysters year-round is part of the problem here; perhaps we should simply learn to appreciate things in their season, rather than try to extend the season to our whims and desires.

(And frankly, if we’re talking time, energy, and public battles, I would rather see the FDA go after processing houses and CAFOs than smallscale oyster farming families.)

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:56:28 +0000

I came in to post the same thing as Marisa. Sure, the deaths are preventable, but they are preventable by the people eating the oysters. Any establishment serving raw seafood is required to post notices about the risks of eating raw seafood. And, as some articles on the topic have mentioned, the vast majority of the deaths are people who were already immunocompromised.

At some point we have to bring personal responsibility into it. If a very tiny percentage of people are getting sick and dying KNOWING their immune systems are compromised and KNOWING that what they’re eating has the potential to make them sick, I don’t see this as a reason to regulate. And I’m speaking as a consumer, not a member of the oyster industry. If it’s a broader health issue where thousands of uninformed consumers are affected, that’s another story, but that is not what this is.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:27:19 +0000

Coincidentally, oyster contamination was one of the culprits in a mysterious sickness in a character on House two weeks ago (it turned out that the character had a rare disorder that reacted with the vibrio in a near-fatal way). I guess the writers over there pay attention to food news or something.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:02:02 +0000

So what do you suggest we do about the people who lose limbs and die just from swimming in salt water with open wounds? Do we ban swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, too?

And a correction. There is no such thing as “the oyster industry.” Thousands of individuals – men and women – spoke out against the proposed ban because they don’t want the FDA, CSPI, or Marion Nestle telling them what they’re allowed to eat.

By: Marisa

Marisa — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:30:55 +0000

Just because at-risk groups are not listening to the warnings that they shouldn’t consume raw oysters and other raw products doesn’t mean the entire oyster supply should be ruined. 15 deaths in immuno-compromised individuals (who were warned not to eat raw products) out of how many oysters consumed? If the Gulf oyster industry produces 2/3 of the oysters eaten in the US, that’s a lot of oysters, and not much risk. There are probably foods with a higher risk of infection that are less regulated. So now what, is the government going to tell me I can’t eat my steak rare? Sometimes food regulations can go a little too far Marion.

By: Bob Rheault

Bob Rheault — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:18:24 +0000

So if I follow your logic, we should be banning peanuts because a few hundred people who are not aware they are allergic die each year… and I suppose we should be forcing all sorts of industries to irradiate and process their food too. Eliminate all risk and protect me from the need to have any personal responsibility for my actions. Usher in the nanny state! Live in a bubble.

No thanks. I like my oysters raw and fresh. I accept the risks (as minuscule as they are even though I am immune compromised) and I accept responsibility for my actions. As I understand it, most of the Vibrio vulnificus deaths were in immune compromised individuals who knew they should not be eating raw oysters and chose to anyway! They should not be eating any raw foods for that matter. Live for today for to live in a bubble is a slow death.

By: susanne

susanne — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:47:35 +0000

Gina, i was wondering the same thing. how could a frozen, irradiated oyster taste anything like a freshly shucked oyster? is this for processed oysters or something?

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Kinda torn on this one, to be honest. I lived near Appalachicola for a while, a town built by oysters with streets paved by oyster shells. I ate fresh oysters right off the boats five days a week.

I wonder if the “processing” is going to destroy the taste, texture and brineyness that we oyster-lovers crave. Will we become like those cheese-smugglers who circumvent U.S. laws re: pasteurization to bring in their European delights?

Perspective: 15 deaths vs. how many servings of oysters? And what’s the death rate for, say, spinach with e coli contamination?

Don’t know the answers … just asking the questions.