I grew up in a family where everyone loves shellfish, it is a healthy source of protein. Fresh shellfish is the best and nothing can beat the taste of raw oysters with some freshly squeezed lemon juice. When I was growing up, we always go to a beach in Cavite and get a big basket of oysters along the way for lunch.

My dad loves to eat raw oysters. Nowadays, he has to be very careful when eating anything that is raw, including oysters. He has Type2 Diabetes so his immune system is already compromised. He will only eat raw oysters if he knows that it came from a company with strict quality control inspection and uses one of the post-harvest treatment processes. Anyone with a compromised immune system should be very careful when eating raw oysters. People with Diabetes, liver disease, cancer, stomach disorders or any disease that weakens the body's immune system. If the oysters have not been properly harvested, cleaned and packaged, they might end up getting very sick.

Here in the USA, we always buy Gulf oysters. The Gulf Oyster Processors use new technologies to ensure that the raw oysters they sell are safe for consumers, including those at-risk. They use three different post-harvest treatment processes to achieve this: (1) IQF - Individual Quick Freezing (2) HCP - Heat Cool Pasteurization and (3) HHP - High Hydrostatic Processing. All these post-harvest processes reduce the risk of illness from eating raw oysters. So before you buy raw oysters, make sure that it has undergone one of these three safety processes.

Posted by Babette