ASA and Southernjetters Beware

derg

derg

Apparently a "terse" writer
Staff member
Careful eating oysters!

(BTW, Spondivits is a joint on VA that lots of Delta and ASA folks tend to late night dine at)

UPDATED: 9:41 p.m. September 10, 2007
Woman's death linked to eating raw oysters at Spondivits

By ELIZABETH LEE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 09/10/07

Fulton County health officials are warning against eating raw shellfish because it could be contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria linked to the death of a woman who ate raw oysters at Spondivits Seafood & Steaks in early August.

The 52-year-old woman died Aug. 10, soon after arriving at a hospital. She ate uncooked oysters several days before her death, Fulton health officials said.

The health department did not identify the woman, who died Aug. 10, or the restaurant. But a corporate chef with Spondivits confirmed that Fulton health officials were investigating the popular restaurant.

Oysters and other shellfish harvested from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico in summer months may be contaminated with the bacteria by the time they arrive at restaurants.

In this instance, it's unclear whether the restaurant's seafood handling may have worsened the oysters condition. Fulton County health officials say they still are investigating the case.

Spondivits was closed for a day and asked to throw out all of their oysters. The restaurant will not serve them again until cooler weather, said Glenn Gagne, corporate chef for Spondivits.

The 52-year-old woman died soon after arriving at a hospital. She ate uncooked oysters several days before her death, Fulton health officials said.

James Howgate, director of Fulton's division of population health, said the health department has prohibited the restaurant from serving any type of shellfish, raw or cooked.

The county closed the restaurant for 24 hours after inspectors found critical violations of safe food handling practices there while investigating the woman's death, Howgate said. Gagne said the restaurant closed voluntarily, at the county's request.

The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria can cause death or serious illness in people with a variety of medical conditions, including diabetes and liver disease.

Gagne said Spondivits sold 125 orders of oysters on the day the woman ate there, with no other reports of illness.

"Realize the bacteria is a Gulf bacteria," Gagne said. "It's not a kitchen-borne bacteria."

Later, Gagne said that the high heat of August had caused problems with restaurant coolers keeping food properly chilled.

"When you start hitting temperatures over 100, it's very hard to hold your temps," Gagne said. "Oysters are very hazardous. That's why we have the warning posted in the restaurant and on the menu."

Howgate said it is county policy not to release the name of the restaurant. "Our perspective here is to help the business be safe," Howgate said. "We're not interested in hurting their business. We do the best we can and work with the restaurant community to help them stay in business."

The woman's death and a possible link to oysters has been under investigation for several weeks. Fulton health officials confirmed the link Monday after repeated requests from a reporter over a 10-day period.

Epidemiologists were trying to confirm that the woman only ate raw oysters at one place before finalizing their report, said April Majors, a spokeswoman for the health department.

Georgia permits the sale of raw oysters in restaurants, and requires restaurants to advise patrons that eating raw or undercooked shellfish can cause illness or death. When the state's new food service code takes effect Dec. 1, that menu advisory will drop the mention of death, instead listing only serious illness as a potential risk.

Infections from the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria increased 78 percent in the past decade, according to the CDC.

Georgia reported four deaths from the bacteria last year, including two women who had eaten raw oysters from the Gulf Coast. In those cases, the state Department of Agriculture department issued a public health alert within two weeks of the women's deaths, urging hospitals to be on the lookout for patients with the rare bacterial infection.

The bacteria can cause serious illness in people with weakened immune systems or such conditions as alcoholism, cancer, HIV/AIDS and stomach disorders. About half of those infections are fatal, according to the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission, an industry and government group.

The infection can be treated with antibiotics, but also may cause death in just one to two days. Symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, diarrhea, low blood pressure and blistering skin lesions.
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Ouch. . .I've always stayed away from that place. Not for anything specific really, just made it a habit to never enter the establishment.
 
lol - don't ya just hate repeating yourself?

I've only recently had my first few oysters on the half shell.

I'm not too sure what all the fuss is really. They weren't that delicious. Then again, I wasn't drinking at the time. I may have a different opinion if I were drinking a significant amount of alcohol.
 
surreal1221 said:
I've only recently had my first few oysters on the half shell.

I'm not too sure what all the fuss is really. They weren't that delicious. Then again, I wasn't drinking at the time. I may have a different opinion if I were drinking a significant amount of alcohol.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that. Sober and drunk.

And they ain't much better sober. In fact, I'd recommend you consume raw oysters drunk.

They're just not tasty and if you cover them up with Tabasco or cocktail sauce, then what the hell was the point of eating them in the first place?
 
tonyw said:
Been there, done that. Sober and drunk.

And they ain't much better sober. In fact, I'd recommend you consume raw oysters drunk.

They're just not tasty and if you cover them up with Tabasco or cocktail sauce, then what the hell was the point of eating them in the first place?
Click to expand...

:yeahthat: I've never understood the fascination with oysters. They're gross looking and feeling, and they don't taste good (or bad, really . . . they have no taste).
 
In all my years of working at suthernjets I have never eaten there. I guess with it sitting between a Waffle House and McDonalds there wasnt much attraction to an old wooden building. I will say though that even at 2 am that place is still packed no matter what day it is
 
Monster-sized beers and hardly any crackheads extolling the "Hey! I'm from N'awlins... can you help a brother out?" which is a rarity for VA!
 
I have seen a few rather lovely ladies walking in and out of there....well some were stumbling but you get the idea....

They just open a new place on the other side of McDonalds. They build a small strip retail center and this place is on the end.
 
Spondivits was actually an interesting place. For some reason quite a few celebs eat there. I was there one night and the waitress was telling me about some ATL rap star that had valet parked his Bentley there. The valet guy locked the keys inside somehow. Instead of waiting 30 minutes to get a locksmith to get the door open, he smashed the window and unlocked the door himself.

The clam chowder there was quite good. But this gives me a even better reason to go to the Manchester Arms Pub instead.
 
I've eaten there a few times while at Flight Safety for training many moons ago. Enjoyed the place - excellent lobster bucket and fantastic big beers. And the 11:00 p.m. + ladies crowd was always something to enjoy. :D



Max
 
Manchester Arms rocks. I think I have the "one day"/see-if-you-can-still-fly recurrent in October so I'll have to pick up the first round, Rausda!
 
I thought the phrase "never eat oysters in any month without an R in it" was common knowledge. Guess not.
 
I quit eating the raw ones after I had a neighbor who almost died, twice! The funny thing is he still eats them, a true addict.
 
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