The FDA has temporarily delayed a ban on the sale of raw oysters from the Gulf Coast. The ban was made in order to reduce the risk of Vibrio vulnificus (Vv). Vv is a flesh-eating bacteria which resides in all coastal waters.
Although the infection could be transmitted through eating raw oysters, people usually catch it when they expose wounds to bacteria in seawater. The illness isn’t serious unless you have a very weak immune system or suffer from certain health conditions. Healthy people have nothing to worry about in this rare food-borne disease.
If the ban is made official raw oysters will undergo months of quick freezing, frozen storage, high hydrostatic pressure, mild heat, and low dose gamma irradiation. This would reduce Vv risk. However, little could be said about how fresh the oyster will be once they reach consumers’ plates.
We’re hoping the FDA will find a way of reducing health risks without compromising freshness.
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