KMAX: News of the West

California bans sale of warm-weather oysters from Gulf of Mexico

LAURA WIDES
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) State officials filed an emergency ban this week on the sale of raw oysters harvested during warm months along the Gulf Coast due to concerns about contamination.

The Department of Health Services said oysters harvested in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama during that time may contain the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which can lead to severe illness and death.

Officials said they hoped the move would encourage changes throughout the Gulf Coast oyster industry.

``We hope to spur the industry,'' said Jim Waddell, head of DHS' food and drug division. ``There are already several effective means to treat the product after it's harvested.''

The ban, which became effective Monday, prevents California retailers, distributors, and wholesalers from accepting Gulf Coast oysters harvested between April and October, unless they have been processed to eliminate the bacteria.

Health officials said they would not enforce the ban until May to give companies time to comply.

Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster urged California to reconsider.

The action would stop the shipment of over 500,000 pounds of raw oysters to the state and could cost Louisiana nearly $20 million annually and perhaps as many as 150 jobs.

Meanwhile, Louisiana health official say the risks of the oyster-related illness have been overblown.

Waddell disagreed. According to DHS, since 1983, 75 Vibrio bacteria infections have been reported to state health officials, including 45 that resulted in death, he said.

In cases where the source of the oysters could be identified, the source was the Gulf Coast, Waddell said.

The infection can cause fever, chills and abdominal pain, generally within 24 hours of eating contaminated shellfish.

Those with chronic liver disease are especially vulnerable to the infection, which can lead to lesions and a loss of skin in the extremities, officials said. Others at higher risk include those with cancer, AIDS or other conditions that weaken the immune system.

The ban won praise from the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has long urged the Food and Drug Administration to require such oysters to be processed to kill the bacteria.

``California officials have done what the FDA should have done long ago,'' said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal.

About 25 percent of California's oysters come from the Gulf Coast.

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