CSPI Petitions FDA to Set Performance Standards for Shellfish Industry
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has petitioned the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish performance standards for the
shellfish industry to reduce the threat of a “naturally occurring but deadly
contaminant” found primarily in raw or undercooked oysters. According
to a CSPI letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, Vibrio vulnificus
(V-vulnificus) bacteria in contaminated shellfish is responsible for sickening
approximately 30 people and killing 15 annually.
Claiming that an annual “outbreak” occurs between April and November
when Gulf Coast water temperatures create an ideal environment for the
contaminant to grow, CSPI has urged FDA to “act now” to enforce regulations
in 2011’s Food Safety Modernization Act requiring performance standards for
significant contaminants such as V-vulnificus. “If we knew a serial killer were
going to kill a dozen people like clockwork each year, the police would spring
into action to stop it,” said David Plunkett , CSPI’s senior food safety attorney.
See CSPI Press Release, February 9, 2012.
