Restaurants in B.C. with warning signs
Raw oysters is a popular dish in many restaurants in British Columbia- one Vancouver seafood restaurant sold 24,000 of them during last month alone. A representative from this restaurant said that "a few people get sick from oysters every year at his restaurant, but nothing major". A scare hit the trade in raw oysters back in 1997 when people became ill from eating oysters containing a marine vibrio bacteria.
But today, oyster farmers check their product for bacteria and viruses daily. Canada's largest oyster processor- Fanny Bay Oysters on Vancouver Island- said that the 1997 outbreak was caused by product not chilled properly. They also suggest that if people are getting sick from eating raw oyster in Vancouver restaurants, this may be due to some outlets "buying oysters at the back door", instead of purchasing them from certified plants like theirs.
Officials from the Vancouver Coastal Health Region said that they have had meetings with the industry and restaurants, and that they have followed up on illness that could have been associated with oysters. They also test the areas where they are being harvested, but "that alone has not significantly reduced the risk".
The Vancouver Coastal Health Region contains over one million people along the B.C. mainland coast between Vancouver and Bella Coola.
