Raw Oysters And Food Safety Legislation

The raw gulf oyster has been in the news recently and stirring a rather large dispute about foodborne illness and food safety. The seemingly innocuous mollusk has been center stage in the debate about the extent of the FDA’s control over foods in their effort to control foodborne illness.

The controversy essentially surrounds the FDA’s attempt to mandate that all raw oysters harvested from the gulf coast during the warm months would have to be pasteurized before they could be sold to the consumer. Pasteurization of gulf oysters was proposed in an effort to control foodborne illnesses associated with the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus.

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that lives in saltwater. Filter feeding animals such as oysters and clams ingest the bacterium and the microbe thrives in the shellfish’s tissue. When the oyster is ingested raw, the pathogen can take hold of the intestines and cause illness. For healthy individuals, Vibrio vulnificus is typically mild and can even pass unnoticed. For people with compromised immune systems and preexisting conditions, such as diabetes and liver disease, Vibrio vulnificus poisoning can be deadly.

But a debate ensued about just how likely a person was to die from raw oyster food poisoning versus how much damage the regulations would cause to the $300 million dollars oyster industry.

For supporters of the FDA’s raw oyster regulations, any food consistently tied to food poisoning deaths needs to be tightly regulated. In California, similar raw oyster pasteurization rules eliminated all deaths associated with Vibrio poisoning. Oyster regulation supporters point out that 0% is a success rate that cannot be ignored.

Opponents of the FDA’s oyster regulations claimed that pasteurization changes the texture and flavor of the oyster. They argue that mandated pasteurization would hurt the raw oyster industry.  And the likelihood of contracting a serious foodborne illness from raw oyster poisoning is so remote that guidelines attempting to control Vibrio vulnificus were unnecessary.

Ultimately, it was the pro-raw oyster side that was able to get the needed politicians on their side and the raw oyster guidelines were scraped from the senate’s food safety bill.

I don’t know if the raw oyster guidelines would have been successful. The Gulf States love their raw oysters and would probably have ignored the rules. When the rules are ignored it creates an illegal and unregulated trade. The situation is similar to the raw milk debate. Regardless of the outbreaks associated with raw milk or the legality of selling raw milk in some states, people still sell and trade the product.

It is interesting to note that the drama surrounding raw Gulf oysters continues. The FDA recently issued a warning about consuming oysters harvested from San Antonio Bay because they may be contaminated with norovirus. Even if the FDA guidelines were in place, the oysters would have been out of the date for pasteurization but the warning is a reminder that raw oysters can easily harbor pathogens that can cause foodborne illness.

Persons with weakened immune systems, including those affected by AIDS, and persons with chronic alcohol abuse, liver, stomach or blood disorders, cancer, diabetes or kidney disease should avoid raw oyster consumption altogether, regardless of where or when the oysters are harvested.

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