[CH] Shellfish Poisoning

Rich McCormack (macknet@cts.com)
Tue, 09 Feb 1999 05:50:27 -0800

Shantihhh@aol.com wrote:

> Actually Chiles/capsicum kills the nasty bacteria that can be found in raw
> shellfish such as oysters and clams!  So load on the Tabasco/chiles it is
> medicine!

peter gaffney wrote:
> 
> uhhh .... NO, NO, NO
> 
>    putting chiles or chile sauce on affected seafood will NOT keep you
> from getting
> paralytic shellfish poisoning. ( PSP)
> domoic acid is VERY toxic and  even prolonged cooking won't defuse the
> life-threatening danger.


I think we're talking of two different things here...

As I understand it, paralytic shellfish poisoning is caused by the 
toxin (domoic acid) produced by a type of phytoplankton, not toxins 
produced by bacteria.

During certain times of the year when the blooms of phytoplankton 
are more massive (red tides), more domoic acid is produced and the 
toxin can become concentrated in the flesh of shellfish (and some 
fish under certain circumstances as well, I think) to the serious 
detriment of shellfish eating animals including humans.  

Please, for the sake of all us raw oyster and/or other assorted 
seviche eaters, correct me if I'm wrong. 


-- 
Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@cts.com

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