Shoot the oyster

Uh-oh, the Feds are getting into the act. First it was the state-level Health Dep't telling folks not to eat bivalves because a bacterium, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, had infested oyster beds in along Hood Canal. Wrote letter to Seattle Times, we did, pointing out that the vibrio bacterium is effectively neutralized in a solution of 12 percent alcohol: in other words, a glass of white wine. Slurp.

But of course the gummint won't tell folks to imbibe. Instead they closed the beds, recalled the oysters, and opened--we kid you not--a marine biotoxin hotline (800-562-5632) and an online biotoxin bulletin.

Slurp. That was last week. Now the heavy hitters from DC have arrived. Food & Drug Admin cites 70 cases of food poisoning, here and on east coast, blamed on bivalves.

Where's Dr. Yi-Cheng Su when you need him? He's the one doing research, at the OSU's Seafood Lab in Newport, that shows wine neutralizes 99% of the vibrio pathogen in 60 seconds. Reported here.

Meantime, maybe it's best to play it safe: don't slurp that oyster after all, chew it well and slurp the wine instead.