[CH] Shellfish Poisoning
Rich McCormack (macknet@cts.com)
Tue, 09 Feb 1999 05:50:27 -0800
Shantihhh@aol.com wrote:
> Actually Chiles/capsicum kills the nasty bacteria that can be found in raw
> shellfish such as oysters and clams! So load on the Tabasco/chiles it is
> medicine!
peter gaffney wrote:
>
> uhhh .... NO, NO, NO
>
> putting chiles or chile sauce on affected seafood will NOT keep you
> from getting
> paralytic shellfish poisoning. ( PSP)
> domoic acid is VERY toxic and even prolonged cooking won't defuse the
> life-threatening danger.
I think we're talking of two different things here...
As I understand it, paralytic shellfish poisoning is caused by the
toxin (domoic acid) produced by a type of phytoplankton, not toxins
produced by bacteria.
During certain times of the year when the blooms of phytoplankton
are more massive (red tides), more domoic acid is produced and the
toxin can become concentrated in the flesh of shellfish (and some
fish under certain circumstances as well, I think) to the serious
detriment of shellfish eating animals including humans.
Please, for the sake of all us raw oyster and/or other assorted
seviche eaters, correct me if I'm wrong.
--
Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@cts.com
Who is Rich McCormack? Find out at...
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