Oyster sample from Chch to be tested

Press, 1 April 1989, Page 4

Oyster sample from Chch to be tested

By

SARONA lOSEFA

One of 10 oyster samples taken from various Christchurch retailers has been found to harbour “undetermined” organisms.

The sample has been sent to the National Health Institute for further analysis, said a senior health protection officer, Mrs Karen Brooks. The unit instigated investigations of Christ-church-sold oysters after six reports of the bacterial disease, vibrio parahaemolyticus, in Christchurch last week. Mrs Brooks said five of those who suffered the sickness said they had eaten raw oysters before the food poisoning symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps.

One case reported winning the oysters in a hotel raffle. Mrs Brooks said the organism grew naturally in oysters and did not reach dangerous levels for food poisoning unless the food was mishandled before consumption. “The organism does not survive heat treatment so cooking oysters eliminates any risk of illness,” she said. The other nine samples tested by the health unit . were “perfectly satisfactory.” The Invercargill area

health unit had encountered no problems after three earlier reports of the disease. "They have the advantage of faster turnover of oysters in shops and there is little wait between the harvesting and retailing stage,” Mrs Brooks said. The president of the Christchurch Fish Retailers’ Association, Mr Mike Reitsma, said he would not comment until the unit could positively link unhygienic handling of oysters at the retailing stage to the reported illnesses.