oysters

16 Stories

More Than 80 People Attend LA Times Food Event, Get Violently Ill

Officials suspect a norovirus outbreak linked to raw oysters

(Newser) - More than 80 attendees of a recent Los Angeles Times event ended up violently ill, and officials suspect a norovirus outbreak. Less than 24 hours after the event, an annual gathering celebrating the newspaper's list of the city's 101 best restaurants , the diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting...

Bacteria Linked to Oysters, Seawater Kills 3 on East Coast

4th person also sickened, but survives

(Newser) - Three people in New York and Connecticut have died recently from a rare but deadly bacterial infection linked to raw seafood and warm seawater. A fourth person was hospitalized with the same infection but survived, the New York Times reports. Vibrio vulnificus is a flesh-eating bacteria that can cause an...

Mississippi Has an Oyster Problem
Mississippi Has
an Oyster Problem
longform

Mississippi Has an Oyster Problem

State's once-vital industry is collapsing as government efforts to rebuild reefs fail

(Newser) - Mississippi has a rich history in the oyster industry, but that industry appears to be on the brink of collapse. A story in ProPublica details the steep decline over the last two decades or so, pointing out that the number of companies licensed to process oysters in the state has...

Tokyo Olympics Was Infiltrated by Oysters

And it wasn't a cheap problem to fix

(Newser) - It turns out COVID-19 wasn't the only foe Olympic organizers were battling in 2020. Add oysters to the list. The BBC reports the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay will host canoeing and rowing events, and the preparation for those events involved the installation of floats designed to prevent...

Oysters Only in 'R' Months? Advice May Go Back 4K Years

Researchers say the practice was in play off Georgia's coast long ago

(Newser) - Anyone who indulges in wild oysters has surely heard the advice: Eat them only in months with an R. In other words, skip them during the summer. Now, researchers from the Florida Museum of National History have found evidence that the practice was in play more than 4,000 years...

Pearl Found in $14.75 Lunch Could Be Worth Thousands

Diner got his usual on fateful day at famous NYC eatery

(Newser) - Rick Antosh ordered his usual at New York City's Grand Central Oyster Bar on Dec. 5, but on that particular day, his lunch came with something a little extra: a pea-sized pearl. Antosh got the $14.75 pan roast, which the New York Post describes as a stew-like dish...

He Ate a Bad Oyster, Died 2 Days Later

Saltwater bacteria Vibrio vulnificus claims life in Florida

(Newser) - A man dined on oyster at an unnamed restaurant in Florida's Sarasota County, only to die two days later from a deadly bacteria. The 71-year-old died July 10 from a bacterial infection caused by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel . Though such infections are rare—only...

Abducted Man Tastes Oysters, Longtime Mystery Unravels

Li Risheng was sold by his mother at age 7—and just found his father, 13 years later

(Newser) - When Li Risheng was 7, he endured one of the most horrible betrayals a child can experience: being sold by his own mother. "It was a rainy day, two of my mum's friends came to our home," Li, now 20, tells Guangzhou Daily , via the South China ...

Our Discarded Plastic May Doom Oysters
 Our Discarded Plastic  
 May Doom Oysters 
study says

Our Discarded Plastic May Doom Oysters

Ingested particles quickly damage their ability to produce, says study

(Newser) - Oysters may have a new No. 1 menace in the sea: plastic. A troubling new study finds that oysters feeding on microplastics quickly develop serious reproduction problems, scientists report at Phys.org . In their study, researchers grew Pacific oysters in a lab and exposed them to the type of microplastic...

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Hits Southern Beachgoers

Several deaths reported

(Newser) - Not long after Florida warned beachgoers to be careful, new reports are emerging of tourists suffering from flesh-eating bacteria. The Weather Channel points to reports of at least three deaths in the state this year, while others have suffered from Vibrio Vulnificus in Alabama and Texas. A Georgia man ended...

CO2 Levels Are Super-Sizing Crabs

Crustaceans bulk up as carbon levels rise

(Newser) - Carbon emissions usually make news for their effect on the climate, but they're also having a major impact on marine ecosystems in the form of creating huge crustaceans, the Washington Post finds. In the Chesapeake Bay area and many others, oyster and scallop populations are dropping as crabs—who...

Oysters From French Region of Brittany 'More Precious Than Pearls'

 French Oysters: 
 'More Precious 
 Than Pearls' 
mollusk review

French Oysters: 'More Precious Than Pearls'

Bivalve connoisseur describes 3-day journey

(Newser) - The world's most delicious oysters can be found in the French region of Brittany, where "they are generally smaller than other varieties but intensely flavored," writes Susan Spano in the Los Angeles Times . She recounts her 3-day oyster tour of France's Atlantic coast, where she devoured...

Gulf Oysters' Fate Illustrates 'Tyranny of Oil' Risks

True harm of BP spill may not be known for years: Paul Greenberg

(Newser) - Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf, and Paul Greenberg is worried enough about the consquences that he's putting an oyster on his Seder plate. It's a reminder to him that the most devastating effects of the spill happened below the...

Best Aphrodisiac Foods
 Best Aphrodisiac Foods 
when in doubt, stick with wine

Best Aphrodisiac Foods

From the known (oysters) to the bizarre (banana bread), the sexiest foods

(Newser) - If you're looking for a Valentine's Day meal to put you and your lover in the mood, skip the chocolate—you'd need to eat 25 pounds to feel its euphoric effects. And despite the inclusion of popular aphrodisiacs like oysters on many V-Day menus, most meals are so heavy "...

Oysters May Clean East Coast Waters

Electrified reefs could help restore the population

(Newser) - Oysters can be shocked into repopulating and cleaning up America's waterways, the Christian Science Monitor reports. A project in New York's East River is using metal reefs, powered by solar panels, to build up limestone and help oysters grow. The upside is that they filter water—up to 50 gallons...

Pairing Leaves Writer Red-Faced
Pairing Leaves Writer Red-Faced
OPINION

Pairing Leaves Writer Red-Faced

Times oenophile comes out of shell, tries vin rouge with his oysters — and lives!

(Newser) - Oysters and red wine? "Why not?" asks Eric Asimov in the New York Times. Wine pairing as a science can drain a meal of its pleasure, while instincts and taste-testing add adventure. After Parisian waiters twice recommended red with a foodie blogger's oysters, Asimov traded the usual suspects (muscadet,...

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