Before you enjoy that platter of freshly shucked oysters or baked clams at your favorite seafood restaurant, make sure you know where the shellfish come from.
The United States Food and Drug Administration is warning Consumers should avoid eating seafood from Oregon and Washington because it may be contaminated with toxins that cause what is called paralytic seafood poisoning. Now at least 31 people have been sickened in Oregon, according to state health officials. Here’s what you need to know about the FDA advisory.
What is the FDA warning about?
The FDA recommends avoiding oysters and clams harvested from Netarts and Tillamook Bays in northern Oregon since May 28, as well as shellfish harvested from areas around Willapa Bay in southern Oregon. Washington State since May 26. , or PSP, a natural toxin produced by algae.
Shells collected from these areas during this period were distributed beyond Oregon and Washington to Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, and New York. The FDA has warned restaurants and retailers in those states not to serve it.
High levels of the toxins were first detected in shellfish on the Oregon coast on May 17, state fish and wildlife officials said.
Since then, an outbreak of paralytic seafood poisoning has sickened at least 31 people in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The agency asked people who have harvested or eaten Oregon shellfish since May 13 to complete a survey intended to help investigators identify the cause of the outbreak and the number of people sickened.
Oregon officials have closed the entire state coastline to the harvest of mussels, razor clams and clams. Agriculture officials also closed three bays, including those mentioned in the FDA advisory, to commercial oyster harvesting.
The FDA also urged restaurants and food retailers not to serve or sell oysters and clams from the Netarts Bay and Tillamook Bay growing areas.
Authorities in neighboring Washington state have also closed the state’s Pacific coast to shellfish harvesting, including mussels, clams, scallops and oysters, a shellfish safety map produced by the Washington State Department of Health.
What is paralytic seafood poisoning?
Paralytic seafood poisoning, or PSP, is caused by saxitoxin, a natural toxin produced by algae. Saxitoxin is a neurotoxin, which means it can…