basically, this is nothing more than cooking the oysters, as the process kills them (hence then need for the rubber bands to keep them closed), while the flesh becomes a bit rubbery after the cooking process.
basically, steaming whole oysters in the shell accomplishes the same thing.
partially freezing oysters makes it easier to open their shells, though have no idea if any stray bugs get killed.
i’ve eaten raw oysters for decades without ill effects.
btw, a few years ago, obama’s FDA briefly tried to force all oyster producers to pre-cook their “raw” oysters with the above process, but the blowback was so fierce, they quickly gave up. this is the same obama administration, which briefly tried to get irrigation furrows between crop rows to be considered “waterways of the united states” for the purpose of EPA regulation, and also briefly tried to promulgate dust regulations for farm plowing, that if implemented, would have put an end to food production in the U.S. ...
[basically, this is nothing more than cooking the oysters, as the process kills them (hence then need for the rubber bands to keep them closed), while the flesh becomes a bit rubbery after the cooking process.
basically, steaming whole oysters in the shell accomplishes the same thing.]
The other objective is to allow the processor’s customers to serve the oysters as raw. Steaming it would completely change the texture.
AmeriPure oysters do have a slightly different texture than pure raw, but there’s always a tradeoff.