Re: [CH] Shellfish Poisoning
Dave Sacerdote (davesas@ntplx.net)
Wed, 10 Feb 1999 21:37:19 -0500 (EST)
>MA>Please, for the sake of all us raw oyster and/or other assorted
>MA>seviche eaters, correct me if I'm wrong.
>x
>Me too. On the *very* rare occasions when I can afford them, I love
>raw oysters. I've been assuming the lemon juice and peppers or
>whatever (oysters combine phenomenally well with the flavor of
>serranos) would kill most of whatever was problematical;
>if that isn't true, I'd like to know.
Forgive me if this article is too long; it is from the Health Journal column
of the Wall Street Journal, by Marilyn Chase.
===begin quoted article
"Eating Raw Shellfish Is Risky for Everyone But Lethal for Some."
If your idea of the perfect Valentine's Day supper involves oysters and
champagne, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may
cool your enthusiasm.
A recent CDC investigation described an outbreak of the bacterium Vibrio
parahaemolyticus from shellfish harvested in New York waters. Two dozen
people were sickened, briefly closing Long Island oyster beds last autumn.
Since 1997, the bacteria in raw shellfish have been blamed for 700 cases of
gastroenteritis, including the illnesses of 416 people who ate Galveston
Bay, Texas, oysters last summer.
The bacteria - natural marine inhabitants - inflict nausea and diarrhea on
unwary diners. But however miserable, they aren't nearly as deadly as a
related kind, Vibrio vulnificus. Shellfish tainted with V. vulnificus can
kill people with liver disease or weakened immune systems - prompting a
citizens' petition before the Food and Drug Administration to reduce the hazard.
[ ... ]
"Consumers shouldn't eat raw or undercooked oysters or clams if they don't
want to get sick," [CDC] Dr. Farzad Mostashari says flatly. Any illness
within four days of eating raw shellfish should trigger a call to the doctor
and a lab culture, he says.
A Long Island outbreak of 23 cases of V. parahaemolyticus caused no deaths.
But the CDC team was disturbed to find people with liver problems who had no
idea they should avoid raw seafood....Between 12 million and 30 million
consumers run a special risk of shellfish poisoning, the FDA estimates,
because of alcohol-related liver disease, diabetes, the metabolic disorder
hemochromatosis, chronic hepatitis B and C, and depressed immunity.
Popular acid-blocking drugs, which remove a natural barriar against food
poisoning, may also heighten vulnerability to tainted shellfish, says Bruce
Faber, North Shore's infectious diseases cheif.
=== end quote
The article also goes on to say that warm-water shellfish from the Gulf
and from oyster beds where the water remains too warm in the fall (Long
Island Sound waters were at an unusually warm 77 degrees last fall when the
outbreak forced the closing of the beds) are the riskiest.
The FDA is reviewing data on low-temperature pasteurization, freezing, and
high-pressure treatment of shellfish to combat the Vibrio bacteria. Nothing
was said in the article about capsaicin's effect.
The bottom line is still: You have to make up your own mind and weigh
the risks. I personally wouldn't be worried about coldwater oysters, though.
===
Dave Sacerdote
davesas@ntplx.net
Resist or Serve.
"I am so mighty, I do not have to kill you all." -- Flaming Carrot
Visit Dave's New England Almanac at http://www.ntplx.net/~davesas/