For the past 7 years, we've been vacationing on St. George Island, Florida, which is close to Apalachicola, Florida, and for the past 3 years, we've owned a home on St. George Island, with our good friends, The Chip and Mary Loch Smith family. I subscribe to the Apalachicola Times, the weekly newspaper to try to keep up with local news and events. It's interesting to observe, contrast, and compare what makes news down there and what makes news up here in Nashville. We have become big fans of eating raw oysters, and subsequently, have become aware of how large and how potent the seafood industry is to the local economies in North Florida.
One news item that didn't even make a blurb up here was the recent attempt by the FDA to completely shut down the harvesting and selling of oysters during the summer months. Apparently, there are about 30 people per year that lose their life to eating a raw oyster and ingesting a bacteria by the name of Vibrio Vulnicifus. This bacteria is found between April and October in warm waters off the Gulf of Mexico. Never mind that most of these deaths occur by people who shouldn't be eating raw shell fish anyway, to wit, people with weak immune systems, or with weak kidneys or livers.
The FDA actually announced the ban about 3 weeks ago, to take affect starting with the harvesting season commencing in April of 2011. There was a HUGE outcry from the local seafood industries all up and down the coast, all the way to New Orleans and beyond. The only option according to the FDA at that time was for post harvesting irridation controls. Such processing, done through pasteurization and irridation techniques, destroys the bacteria, but can as much as double the cost to consumers, and alters the taste and texture of freshly shucked shellfish. I've tasted an irridated oyster right next to a raw oyster, and the tastes are comparing cardboard to a good piece of bread. Butter makes no difference with cardboard, hence no matter how one dresses the oyster that has been irridated, the quality is horrible.
So anyway, after an outrcy by a unified chorus of Gulf Coast lawmakers and oyster industry executives in the past few weeks, the FDA has officially put the plan "on ice" (with horseradish and hot sauce too), and will hopefully back off altogether.
Here's a quote from the US Senator from Florida, Sen Bill Nelson--"While it's a victory that the FDA has stepped back from implementing this new policy, we still have to be careful because they have yet to altogether rule out a ban on raw oysters up and down the Gulf Coast". So stay tuned, the Government knows what's best for us consumers, don't you see.
