An offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana exploded four years ago this month, killing 11 on the crew and spilling five million barrels of hydrocarbons into waters known for their seafood production. That explosion on the British Petroleum (BP) off-shore oil well known as the Deepwater Horizon is…
Letter From The Editor: BP Oil Spill, Three Years Later
About two weeks before the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform off the coast of Louisiana, Food Safety News pictured the wrong species when reporting on a West Coast oyster story. We quickly heard from Ed Cake of Gulf Environmental Associates in Biloxi, MS who pointed out our mistake and cheerfully agreed…
Oysters At New Orleans Restaurant Cause Norovirus
Fourteen people became ill with norovirus after eating Gulf oysters at a New Orleans area restaurant on April 28 and 29, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) announced Tuesday.
As a result, DHH has closed a key harvesting area on the Gulf coast west of the Mississippi River and recalled oysters harvested from …
Two Years After BP Oil Spill: No Ecosystem Funding Yet
On today’s second anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform, which killed 11 workers and caused the massive BP oil spill, there will be no gifts.
The Resource and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economy (RESTORE) of the Gulf Coast Act has been approved by both the House and Senate as an …
No Sign of Oyster Recovery Two Years After BP Oil Spill
With the second anniversary of the BP oil spill fast approaching, attention is once again returning to the damaged Gulf environment, especially to its greatly diminished oyster production.
The worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history put 200 million gallons of oil and two million gallons of toxic dispersants into the waters of the …
Gulf Spill Trial Delayed
Bon Secour Fisheries Inc., located east of Alabama’s Mobile Bay, was one of the first to sue BP after 2010’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Today, Bon Secour was to get its day in court along with an estimated 116,000 other plaintiffs suing BP, represented by 340 attorneys from 90 law firms.
But in a Sunday …
Taylor Reiterates ‘Gulf Seafood Is Safe to Eat’
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is continuing its effort to reassure the public that Gulf seafood is safe, despite lingering concerns about the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
“Gulf seafood is as safe to eat now as it was before the spill,” wrote Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor on the …
Gulf Senators Ask FDA's Help to Promote Seafood Safety
Senators from Gulf states are asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help assure the public that Gulf seafood is safe to eat, despite some concerns about the impact of the last year’s massive oil spill.
“Gulf seafood is safe, and we want the FDA to make sure the public knows that,” said Sen. …
Gulf Seafood Not So Safe for Pregnant Women, Children?
If people living on the Gulf Coast trusted the federal government all that much, they might be in trouble right now.
In the first peer-reviewed challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) safe levels for cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a new study says they were overestimated in Gulf seafood following the …
Too Much Fresh Water May Kill Gulf Oysters
Coming a year after an oil spill and six years after a hugely damaging hurricane, the Gulf oyster industry fears too much fresh water coming down the Mississippi River could be its final strike.
The Gulf lost half its oyster harvest last year, and is far from recovery now.
“The Louisiana and Mississippi oyster industries …