Born and raised in Hiroshima, I have eaten many oysters in my life. I love them raw, cooked in a pot, or fried, but once I had a bad case of food poisoning.
I wrote about that time in this blog. It is a funny story… (^_^; )
It was raw oysters at that time…
After that, I started receiving messages and questions to this blog, such as “I got food poisoning from fried oysters” or“Does fried oysters cause food poisoning? I started to receive messages and questions from people who were asking me “Did I get food poisoning from fried oysters?
マッキーWhat? Really?
I myself have never gotten food poisoning from fried oysters. But there are stories like that, and again, when I look at the Internet, I see similar stories.
I was curious to know why such a thing happened with fried oysters, which are supposed to be cooked and safe, and how to eat them safely…
I was curious too, so I looked into it again.
Can fried oysters cause food poisoning?
When I read stories on the Internet about people who got food poisoning from fried oysters, most of them said that they ate them at a dubious-looking restaurant that looked a little filthy.
Of course, most restaurants should not be like that, but there may be such unhygienic restaurants in some cases.
The main cause of oyster food poisoning is, as you know, norovirus.
Norovirus is highly contagious, but at the same time, it can be killed if the oysters are heated thoroughly.
Since fried oysters are heated, the probability of food poisoning is much lower than eating raw oysters. However, it cannot be said that there is no possibility of food poisoning if the heat is not applied properly. In order to eat them safely, even if they are fried, they must be adequately heated.
Although we don’t like to think about it, there may be cases where restaurants used old oysters or didn’t heat them enough because they wanted to serve them quickly.
If you worry too much about it, you won’t be able to order fried oysters at a restaurant, but I think it is necessary to know that such things can happen. It might be better not to order at a restaurant that is not clean.
Frozen oyster fries, of course, should not be a problem for most of them, but there may be a possibility that they were undercooked at the manufacturer. There may be a possibility that this is the case.
There may also be a little something about the eater.
Norovirus is more likely to infect small children, the elderly, and even healthy people when they are a little sick or weak.
So, if and when you fall into those categories, you need to take care not to eat oysters or heat them quite thoroughly.
What are the symptoms of food poisoning from fried oysters?
This is the same as when you get food poisoning from raw food. Acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus or other bacteria causes severe abdominal pain and diarrhea that lasts from a few hours to more than a dozen hours. It is often accompanied by vomiting. In severe cases, it can cause fever.
In my case, I ate raw oysters in the morning and had severe diarrhea that night. I had no fever and did not vomit, but I had terrible watery stools that looked like pee over and over again, and I could hardly get out of the bathroom until morning. (ToT)
What is the incubation period for oyster food poisoning?
The incubation period for norovirus, the leading cause of oyster food poisoning, is 12 hours to 3 days. The average is 1-2 days. In my case, I ate them around 10:00 in the morning and started having abdominal pain and diarrhea around 11:00 at night. The incubation period seemed to be short.
If you suddenly have severe diarrhea and abdominal pain and you ate oysters yesterday or the day before yesterday, it is possible.
What precautions should I take to avoid food poisoning from fried oysters?
In the unlikely event that the fried oysters served at a restaurant have a strange smell, tell the restaurant staff about it.
Similarly, if you take a bite of defrosted fried oysters at home and find that they have a strange smell or taste, do not eat them.
If you want to make fried oysters at home, buy the freshest oysters you can find and cook them thoroughly. (You can use raw or cooked oysters as long as they are properly heated.)
Norovirus, which is scary in winter, is killed byheating at 85°C or higher for at least one minute.
At the oyster restaurant “Oyster House,” where I went to eat the other day, I was told to insert a thermometer into the grilled oysters and make sure the temperature was above 85°C for at least one minute before eating them.
I know it is difficult to measure the temperature inside when frying oysters at home, but that is how well they are heated.
And as I wrote in Chapter 1, elderly people, small children, and even healthy adults are susceptible to infection when they are weak, so be especially careful.
Oyster fries (whether baked or in the pan, of course!) Oyster fries can be eaten safely and deliciously by heating them thoroughly.
If you think you got food poisoning from fried oysters…
If you think you have gotten food poisoning from eating oysters..,
- Drink water.
- If you can eat, eat soft foods such as porridge.
and take enough rest. If it is severe, of course, seek medical attention as soon as possible.
I have written about this in detail in another article, so please refer to that as well.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I myself have never had food poisoning from fried oysters, so I honestly felt that as long as I did not eat them raw, I would be fine.
However, there are actually people who say they have gotten food poisoning from fried oysters, and I myself would like to be careful. Please be careful too.
Oysters are really delicious and are “milk of the sea” full of nutrients. They are especially delicious from fall to winter, and I hope you will eat them safely and deliciously! (*^^*)
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