County commissioners have agreed to spend up to 1500 dollars to send Kevin Begos to Washington DC next week to help represent the Gulf Coast Oyster Industry against an FDA plan to ban raw oysters for up to 7 months a year. Begos, who serves as the executive director of the Franklin County oyster and seafood industry task force, will make the trip with three members of the Gulf Oyster Industry Council. They will use the time to meet with Gulf Coast legislators representing state from Florida to Texas as well as meet with other national groups like the National Restaurant Association and the National Marine Fisheries Service that might be able to help combat the FDA’s plans. The FDA announced last month that beginning in April of 2011 it would ban the interstate sale of raw gulf coast oysters to protect consumers from a naturally occurring bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus. Vibrio causes illness in about 30 people a year and kills an average of 15 people annually. The bacterium, however, only affects people with compromised immune systems. People who are susceptible to Vibrio can get it not only from raw oysters but even if they swim in the Gulf of Mexico with open wounds. The Gulf Coast oyster industry has worked for years to lower the already low number of illnesses and deaths caused by oysters – some steps include an education campaign that includes warnings anywhere that raw oysters are sold. The industry is also working on new rules that would tighten cooling requirements during the warmest months of the year to help insure that oysters remain cold and give the Vibrio bacteria less of a chance to multiply. There is currently a lot of activity over the internet designed to fight the FDA proposal. People interested in learning more can find links to some web sites and an on-line petition from the news page at oysterradio.com.
You can also check out a new site from the Gulf Oyster Industry Council called saveourshellfish.org.
http://www.oysterradio.com
No comments:
Post a Comment