Several years ago, when asked what food I shied away from, on of the six on my list was raw oysters and other raw shellfish.As I said:

Marler says that raw shellfish—especially oysters—have been causing more foodborne illness lately. He links this to warming waters, which produce more microbial growth. “Oysters are filter feeders, so they pick up everything that’s in the water,” he explains. “If there’s bacteria in the water it’ll get into their system, and if you eat it you could have trouble. I’ve seen a lot more of that over the last five years than I saw in the last 20 years. It’s simply not worth the risk.”

With two large recalls in the last week and resulting outbreaks at a variety of venues, clearly the industry needs to step up.

What is Norovirus?

When someone talks about having “the stomach flu,” they are probably describing acute-onset gastroenteritis caused by one of the noroviruses, which are members of the “calcivirus” family (Caliciviridae).^[1] Noroviruses are entirely unrelated to influenza viruses.^[2]