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Louisiana blasts new FDA rule requiring oysters to be sterilized to prevent rare bacterial illness
Nola.com ^ | October 28, 2009 | Chris Kirkham

Posted on 10/28/2009 7:22:46 AM PDT by Ebenezer

At the small warehouse tucked away in the back side of the French Quarter, the shuckers at P&J Oyster Co. have arrived before daybreak for 133 years.

Their in-shell and shucked oysters have been on the menus of generations of restaurateurs, from oysters on the halfshell at Acme Oyster House and Casemento’s to the seafood gumbo at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse.

In less than two years, the tradition could become obsolete for seven months out of the year, based on newly announced oyster guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration.

In an effort to reduce cases of a rare, but potentially fatal, bacterial illness contracted from raw oysters, the FDA announced new rules this month that will require any oyster served from April through October to undergo a sterilization process before it can be sold in restaurants or on the market.

The rule will essentially eliminate raw oysters -- at least as Louisianans know them -- from restaurant menus for seven months of the year. Even oysters that will eventually be cooked during those months would have to go through the same cleansing process before being added to any dish, a move some say would undermine the culinary integrity of some of New Orleans’ most famous delicacies.

(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: fda; food; foodsupply; govwatch; health; louisiana; neworleans; oyster; oysters
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1 posted on 10/28/2009 7:22:46 AM PDT by Ebenezer
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To: lsucat; Roux; Pikachu_Dad; WFTR; chemicalman; abb; Liberty911; CajunConservative; LSUfan; ...

Pelican State ping

This FDA policy is another display of the nanny-state mentality. Area restaurants already warn patrons about consuming raw oysters at their own risk.


2 posted on 10/28/2009 7:26:10 AM PDT by Ebenezer (Strength and Honor!)
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To: rrstar96
Just as Health Reform is NOT about health care, and Auto Industry bailouts are NOT about the auto industry, and TARP is NOT about economic stimulus, and Swine Flu is NOT about the flu virus, and Globull Warming is NOT about the environment, the same holds here.

This is NOT about saving a life due to oyster bacteria... it IS all about control and destroying the economy, one chink at a time.

3 posted on 10/28/2009 7:26:55 AM PDT by C210N (A patriot for a Conservative Renaissance!)
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To: rrstar96

An average 30 people/year get sick from this. 15 of them die. How much is the gubmint spending to save 15 lives? How much will this cost Louisiana businesses? This is such a load of dung, and I don’t even eat oysters. We’re from the government, and we’re here to help!


4 posted on 10/28/2009 7:31:20 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: rrstar96

My body, my bacteria.


5 posted on 10/28/2009 7:32:24 AM PDT by sweet_diane (Joe Wilson should not apologize TO the members of the House...he should apologize FOR them!)
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To: rrstar96

How long until restaurants require you to sign a waiver to eat raw oysters.


6 posted on 10/28/2009 7:35:30 AM PDT by BBell
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To: goodwithagun
We’re from the government, and we’re here to help....

....ruin the economy even further (and punish a Republican state in the process).

7 posted on 10/28/2009 7:35:49 AM PDT by Ebenezer (Strength and Honor!)
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To: rrstar96

Oysters on the half shell at “the Pearl”,
then coffee and beignets at Morning Call.

Yes that was a while ago.

Morning Call was really the best, marble counters,
150 watt bulbs( it was so bright you needed sun glasses
at night), and a mixed crowd from construction
workers to debutants, musicians, entertainers, and
just plain folk.


8 posted on 10/28/2009 7:37:48 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68
Makes you wonder, are these regs going to apply to
Chesapeake Bay oysters too?
9 posted on 10/28/2009 7:39:59 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: sweet_diane

When choosing between giving up oysters and running a small risk of getting a bacterial infection, it’s really no choice at all. How about letting people eat oysters if they want to ‘risk’ it, just like we let them smoke cigs and eat high-cholesterol foods?


10 posted on 10/28/2009 7:41:17 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: rrstar96

And to think, when I was a kid we actually cheated death by drinking water from a garden hose.....

The government needs to get out of our lives, period.


11 posted on 10/28/2009 7:43:23 AM PDT by Gator113 (Obamba, Reid, Pelosi, the socialist triad.)
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To: rrstar96

I’ve consumed quite a lot of them and my recommendation is that, just to be on the safe side, you should only eat raw oysters in months that have an “r” in them. Learned that from all of the raw oysters eating relatives that came before me.


12 posted on 10/28/2009 7:44:11 AM PDT by Mila
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To: goodwithagun
Yes, the gubmint is willing to destroy hundreds of millions of dollars in commerce to save, on average, 15 lives a year. Lives that, by the way, could otherwise be saved by immune-compromised persons taking responsibility for their own health.

It is heartening to know that us Louisianans will be able to bypass this proposed regulation because the oysters will stay in-state and out of the reach of the nanny state.

I'm telling you ... the revolution is coming. They really don't realize that the heck they are doing or brewing.

13 posted on 10/28/2009 7:47:07 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Southern by choice ... American by the grace of God)
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To: Mila

Agreed - love the raw oysters but live by the rule “Oysters ‘R’ in Season”


14 posted on 10/28/2009 7:51:00 AM PDT by HonorInPa
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To: rrstar96

I usually like raw oysters but I once became very ill after eating at a local restaurant that specializes in oysters. It wasn’t like normal food poisoning. I just felt terrible and had no energy for several days. I wondered if it had something to do with the so-called “red tide”. I couldn’t figure out how a restaurant that should have had decades of experience with oysters could screw up. But it is believable that raw oysters might not always be the safest thing to eat.


15 posted on 10/28/2009 7:51:43 AM PDT by wideminded
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To: rrstar96

Oysters, mmm!...mmm!...mmm!


16 posted on 10/28/2009 7:52:19 AM PDT by Rebelbase (This is the time of year when ACORNS fall.)
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To: tet68

"Morning Call was really the best, marble counters, 150 watt bulbs( it was so bright you needed sun glasses at night),..."

17 posted on 10/28/2009 7:53:00 AM PDT by Mila
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

You know, I wish we could just do away with the Goverment and start over.

Almost all the day to day problems are caused by people in this goverment!

Todays “leadership” are mostly brain dead by the over use of drugs in their childhood when flower power was trendy.

At some point enough will be enough and pitch forks will be in order.


18 posted on 10/28/2009 7:58:05 AM PDT by tiger63
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To: C210N

This is NOT about saving a life due to oyster bacteria... it IS all about control and destroying the economy, one chink at a time.

You are right on spot. In fact, they wouldn’t mind cleaning the gene pool with oyster bacteria. But, you are right it’s all about control. We can never give up the fight for our country!!!!!


19 posted on 10/28/2009 8:02:43 AM PDT by Bitsy
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To: rrstar96

I don’t do “raw oysters”, but I do like ‘em fried. That being said, this is nuts. How about requiring a warning about raw or undercooked seafood, and the risk is on the consumer.

Oh - wait, that is already being done.

Hello- if someone wants to engage in a possibly risky meal, that is their call. Arrrggghhh.. Just use reasonable care in the harvest, storage, and serving of the product. Warn the consumer, and then be done with it.


20 posted on 10/28/2009 8:02:57 AM PDT by TheBattman (Pray for our country...)
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