Save the Gulf Coast Oyster Industry
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has made a decision to target the Gulf Coast oyster industry and force regulations which would cripple our $500 million per year industry and impact thousands of jobs. The rules would require that oysters harvested from the Gulf during the months of April through October be "sterilized" (most likely by irradiation), a process which kills the oyster and changes the taste and texture of the bivalve. As the FDA thumbs their nose at Gulf Coast seafood producers, they're inspecting under 2% of all imported seafood (including oysters) and testing only a small percentage of that. This figure becomes more poignant considering that imported seafood accounts for around 75% of all U.S. seafood consumption. The agency's reasoning is that 15 people die per year eating raw oysters, and this is an easy-to-fix problem. Though any lives lost are a tragedy, let's keep this number in perspective. Nearly all of those people are in high-risk categories. Hundreds more die each year choking on hot dogs (the shape is condusive), thousands more die from eating tainted vegetables and meat. The dangers of irradiated foods are just beginning to be studied and there are some health risks for workers at irradiation/processing facilities. There are many reasons why the FDA's decision flies in the face of reason. Please make your voice heard by signing this petition. For coverage of the ongoing situation, please visit
http://rawoysters.blogspot.com
Sign the petition, pass it on please.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-raw-oysters
Save the Gulf Coast Oyster Industry
