FDA Oyster Ban Has Louisiana Fuming

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 5:30PM

The state of Louisiana, which produces one-third of the nation's oysters, has mustered the first quasi-official response to new FDA guidelines banning the sale of unprocessed Gulf oysters from April through October.

The strict new rules, designed to combat the deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria that swarms in warm water, require Texas, Florida and Louisiana oyster processors to freeze, heat, radiate or pressurize their oysters. But oyster connoisseurs worry their favored bivalves won't be the only casualty of post-harvest processing; Insiders suspect the law will also kill the Gulf coast's oyster industry.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune's editorial board this week condemned the legislation, writing "Small mom-and-pop operations will have a difficult time coming up with the money to buy sterilization equipment by 2011," the year the law is set to take effect.

"The agency doesn't seem to have even considered the devastating impact on Louisiana's oyster industry," the editors add.

While New Orleans restaurant owners complain they can't pawn off dead oysters on sophisticated gourmands, it seems unlikely the regulations will apply in-state, since the FDA's oversight extends only to interstate commerce. Still, tourism officials aren't pleased by the federal government's insinuation that it's unsafe to eat oysters, a perception that could drastically shorten the lines at Acme Oyster House and other institutions perpetuating what Kelly Schulz, vice president of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, describes as the city's "unique culinary culture."

"Tourism is our number one industry, and we don't want anything to interfere with that," Schulz says.

As oyster backers like to point out, the annual death toll associated with eating raw oysters is 15 people -- and even the FDA concedes all of those Vibrio victims had compromised immune systems.

"At some point, individuals have to take responsibility for what they eat," says Wendy Waren of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, which is leading the charge to lobby against the law.

"Quite frankly, this came as a huge shock to the industry," Waren says. "There's a great movement to stop it in its tracks."

Sen. Mary Landrieu this week joined the secretaries of Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in challenging the new law as a serious threat to a $318 million industry.

"The FDA has bigger fish to fry and should let our seafood industry continue to educate consumers about the risks associated with eating raw products," Landrieu was quoted as saying in a press release issued Wednesday. "Imposing burdensome federal regulations that may take away 3,500 much-needed jobs in Louisiana is not the answer."

Waren predicts Landrieu's fellow legislators will soon join her in protesting the ban:

"I don't think there's a member of our congressional delegation who will be able to side with the FDA," she says.

Filed Under: Food Politics
Tags: Gulf Oyster Industry Council, GulfOysterIndustryCouncil, new orleans, NewOrleans, oysters, raw oysters, RawOysters, shellfish, southern states, summer, VibrioVulnificus

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-31-2009 @9:37AM Raw Oyster Alert said... What about how horrible it is for the people who get sick and die from eating UNSAFE raw oysters unknowningly?

The oyster and restaurant industry want to talk about how people should know better if they are sick. Well, the fact is … they don’t know. Actually, many people who are considered at high risk from eating raw oysters don’t even know they are at risk, such as individuals with diabetes who have not yet been diagnosed or those with liver problems that are undiagnosed.

I can tell you from personal experience — my father died from eating raw oysters 2 years ago. My family had no idea that eating raw oysters had the potential to kill an individual, nor did we know that he was an at risk individual — nor did he. He ate raw oysters to celebrate his birthday and ended up dying from that meal.

FDA needs to do something about this and the oyster and restaurant industry need to stop thinking about just the bottom line and dollars and cents and start thinking about the safety of consumers and human lives.

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10-31-2009 @11:05AM DaTrueDave said... Just like people with peanut allergies should stay away from restaurants that have peanuts, people with a higher risk of dying from eating raw oysters should avoid eating raw oysters!

Keep the government out of our personal lives!

There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to go to a restaurant and eat raw oysters if I (and the restaurant) so choose. This type of law infringes on MY RIGHTS and the rights of the restaurants. Without this law, everyone still has the choice to not eat raw oysters.
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10-31-2009 @11:57AM W. Graves said... oysters are too delicious to mess with!
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10-31-2009 @6:11PM Marisa said... You had NO IDEA that eating raw seafood was potentially dangerous? Its people like you that play dumb in order to put the responsibility on others for your lack of it.
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10-31-2009 @10:02PM cathy said... One of the worse cases of food poisoning I ever got was from cooked oysters at an upscale restaurant years ago. My rule is if I see them open the oysters I eat them, otherwise forget it. http://newsy1.wordpress.com
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12-17-2010 @5:12PM Joe Bassett said... Hey, I used to work seafood. I would take the nice looking soft crabs in the back and the customer would have gotten the ones I cleaned earlier. The ones that didn't look so pretty. The same with oysters. I shuck yours and then dump what I want in the fryer. All I need is you to be preoccupied for 15 seconds.

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11-02-2009 @8:37AM Evolutionary Uturn said... Talk about much ado about nothing. I agree with Marisa. It's up to the individual to decide if they want to eat them or not. It says on the menu the dangers of raw or undercooked food. To not know that there are risks from oysters, sushi, rare steaks, etc is plain stupid.
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11-03-2009 @10:22PM Eli said... This would be very frustrating for oyster connoisseurs. Evolutionary Uturn makes a good point about the warnings on the menu. To put more restrictions on restaurants and oyster fishers in an already poor economy seems overkill.
Cooking, freezing, heating, radiating or pressurizing oysters drastically changes their taste and many who eat oysters regularly will notice this.
I think the FDA is being far too conservative with these regulations.
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11-04-2009 @12:55PM johnfranklin said... There sure are dangers involved in eating raw food, but this is one area the government should stay out of! The opinions in the media support this, check them out in this video: http://bit.ly/BLyDL
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12-17-2010 @5:15PM Joe Bassett said... Eating raw oysters is a problem in the South where they harvest them year round. In the Summer I would not eat raw oysters. This isn't a problem in the North. I never heard of any. But the problem down there is going to be oil oysters.
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