There were several comments made by Louisiana public health officials in your May 1 article "The Shell Game" that are as disturbing as they are disingenuous – I might also add uninformed.

  The article led with the unfortunate and sudden death of Professor Michael Laird, a Wisconsin resident who ate raw oysters while visiting New Orleans and subsequently developed primary septicima – a direct result of the naturally occurring Vibrio vulnificus (V.v.) bacterium commonly found in Gulf oysters.

  Yet Susan Wilson, epidemiology supervisor for the Louisiana Office of Public Health (LOPH) and David Guilbeau, shellfish sanitation control officer for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, commented on the long-standing public health debate over V.v. in raw oysters by questioning the efficacy of post-harvest processes recognized by the FDA as fully effective at reducing the bacterium in raw oysters to undetectable levels. Their comments were ill-advised and totally unsubstantiated.

  No consumer of post-harvest processed raw oysters has ever died or even suffered a V.v.-related illness. Laird would be with his family today if the establishment he consumed the oysters in was serving post-harvest processed oysters.

  As your article notes, retail establishments that exclusively serve oysters that have undergone a recognized post-harvest process are exempt from the state’s retail warning sign requirement. Both the states of Louisiana and California provide these exemptions.

  However, the mandatory warning sign was obviously not sufficient to protect Laird from his untimely death. The fact is that consumers often don’t read warning signs, don’t notice them, or dismiss them. And there are literally millions of consumers who are not aware that they have an "underlying health condition."

  It is downright galling that public health professionals, such as Wilson and Guilbeau, call into serious question post-harvest processes recognized by the FDA and their own employer, the LOPH, as fully effective at reducing this potentially fatal bacterium to undetectable levels. They are doing a disservice to oyster consumers and the industry as a whole by attempting to discredit significant advances in food safety technology.

  The ministerial duty of LOPH is to protect consumers. The comments made in Gambit strongly suggest that certain LOPH officials are much more concerned with protecting the political interests of the very industry they are supposed to regulate.

  The fox in the hen house is a political game with an even richer and longer tradition than oysters in Louisiana. We are very blase about such matters here. It’s business as usual, and nobody seems to care much. Except, of course, Professor Laird’s family and friends.

Patrick Fahey
AmeriPure Processing Co. Inc.

Frank Etheridge’s article ("The Shell Game," May 1) leaves readers with the mistaken impression that demand for Louisiana oysters has somehow dropped due to consumer concerns over health risks. Nothing could be further from the truth.

  The fact is that demand for and sales of Louisiana oysters have never been higher. Louisiana oyster landings have been at near-record levels for five straight years. Louisiana produces more than 35 percent of all oysters consumed nationwide. Markets for Louisiana oysters continue to expand. And our oysters continue to draw rave reviews from consumers, food critics and food writers alike, as colorfully demonstrated by Julia Reed’s article in the April 29 New York Times Magazine.

  Moreover, Louisiana oysters are a great source of health benefits, by virtue of their high volumes of zinc, protein and iron, and are one of the lowest possible sources of fat in any meat product.

  Clearly, for a very small segment of the population, oysters – as well as other food products – do present health risks. The industry, through the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission and other organizations such as the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, has spent considerable time and money to educate consumers to these potential risks. Consumers who are concerned should become fully educated and should avoid raw, untreated oysters.

  Meanwhile, the vast majority of consumers can continue to enjoy "Louisiana’s Pearls of Good Health and Good Taste" in abundance and with confidence.

Mike Voisin
Louisiana Oyster Task Force

In your commentary on the Arabella bus barn ("A Real Barn Burner," Feb. 27), you endorsed the proposed 30,000-square-foot Whole Foods as part of the development deal. Aren’t you the same paper that published a cover story condemning the Whole Foods corporation ("The Greening of Whole Foods," Sept. 29,1998)?

  Not to worry; you gave yourself an out. The aforementioned commentary states that this mixed zoning is the result of a committee who, a decade ago, could not have foreseen this current problem. Perhaps your mixed message reflects a change in the Gambit editorial board. At least, we hope that’s the case. Shame if you celebrate your 20th year with selective memory loss.

Mike and Dana Cunningham