French oysters explode in food safety crisis, government bans sales and forces destruction

Oysters have been temporarily banned from sale in France's Arcachon Bay due to norovirus infection, according to local French media reports.

Health authorities in southwestern France have announced a temporary ban on the sale of oysters in the Bay of Arcachon in order to avoid the spread of norovirus. The ban has had a significant impact on people who are accustomed to eating oysters over the Christmas and New Year period.

Philippe Le Gall, an oyster farmer in the Bay of Arcachon, has confirmed that his oyster sales have been drastically reduced, with sales almost at zero. The health crisis originated from an outbreak of norovirus, a virus that has been detected in local oysters and can cause sick people to have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

To prevent further spread of the virus, health authorities immediately banned the harvest and sale of oysters in the affected areas and restricted oyster production in the northern region. The sudden outbreak was caused by an increase in rainfall, which prevented sewage treatment plants from treating the large amounts of sewage, resulting in untreated sewage flowing into the ocean and contaminating oyster farming areas.

In order to contain the scope of the outbreak, local authorities quickly closed local markets and banned the harvesting and sale of oysters in the region, particularly in the northern French regions of Calvados and Manche, two important oyster shelling areas. The authorities also issued an emergency order informing all oyster producers to stop selling harvested oysters and urging consumers to return them as soon as possible.

Philippe Le Gall, president of the National Shellfish Farming Federation, was concerned about the potential for consumer panic, describing the impact of the incident as "tragic". Although less than 10% of France's total oyster production is currently affected, some 8,000 tons of production will be affected by the ban each year, which will be a severe blow to the industry as a whole.