-
AllActivities Age Concern Anytime Fitness Gym Art Beauty Beer Of The Week Blog Business C2C Care Care Home Chalkwell Beach Charity Children Christmas Cinema City Status Cliffs Pavilion Cliffs Pavilion Cliffs Pavilion Review Cocktail Recipes College Community Competition Competitions Construction Coronation Coronavirus Covid 19 Dannielle Emery Design Easter Education Emma Smith Employment Emsella Chair Environment Essex Police Essex Police News Events Family Fun Fashion Festival Film Finance Fitness Food Food & Drink Football Fresh Face Pillow Company Gardening Hair & Beauty Halloween Harp Havens Hopsice Havens Hospice Havens Hospice Havens Hospice Press Release Havens Hospices Havens Hospices Havens Hospices News Health & Beauty Health & Fitness Historicaleigh History Holidays Housing Indian Indirock Indirock Jubilee Karen Harvey Conran Kids Kids Blogs Kids Competitions Kids Reviews Lady McAdden Legal Legal Eagle Leigh Folk Festival Leigh Library Leigh On Sea Leigh On Sea Finds Leigh Road Leigh Striders Leigh Town Council Leigh Town Council Press Release Leigh on Sea Leigh on Sea Sounds Leigh on sea Folk Festival Leigh on sea Town Council Leigh on sea news Lifestyle Little Red Panto LoS Shop London London Southend Airport London Southend Airport Los Shop Marathon Melinda Giles Mortgage Angel blog Mortgages Motherofalloutings Mughal Dynasty Mughal Dynasty blog Music My Mortgage Angel MyLoS NHS News News Newsletter Offers Other Outfit Of The Week Palace Theatre Parenting Parking Picture Of The Week Pier Politics Press Release Professional Property Property Of The Week RSPCA Ray Morgan Re:loved Recipes Recycling Restaurant Restaurant Review Restaurants Review Roads Rotary Club Royal Hotel Royal Hotel Southend Royal Visit Schools Seafront Shopping Show & Music Reviews Show Review Show Reviews Show Up Productions Shows & Music Shows & Music Review Shows & Music Reviews Southend Southend Airport Southend Airport Press Release Southend Airport Press Release Southend Borough Council Press Release Southend City Council Southend City Council Southend City Council Blog Southend City Council News Southend City Council Press Southend City Council Press Release Southend City Council Press Release Southend City Council blog Southend Council Press Release Southend Hospital Southend In Sight Southend In Sight Press Release Southend on Sea Southend on Sea City Council Press Release Southend on Sea City Council press release Southend on Sea city Council Press Release Southend on sea City Council Press Release Sport The Mortgage Mum Theatre Theatre Blog Theatre Review Theatre Review Theatre Reviews Transport Travel Village Green Volunteer Weddings What's On Whats On blog c2c news shopping
Southend environmental health officers seize over half tonne of illegal oysters
Southend’s environmental health team has averted a potential food poisoning outbreak by seizing over half a tonne of illegally harvested oysters with an estimated value of £7,000.
At 12 noon on Tuesday (2 October 2018) Environmental Health Officers attended City Beach, Southend, as part of their routine observations on shellfish beds. The initial officer observed that a group of oyster pickers was harvesting substantial quantities of the prized shellfish.
When they arrived, the officers found a group of six people collecting commercial amounts of oysters from the beach without the necessary paperwork. Police were called to the incident and are continuing to investigate.
The environmental health officers seized 600kgs of oysters – the largest ever single seizure in Southend – with the equivalent of 200kg of them already of shucked (de-shelled) on the beach and in plastic containers. Further gathered, but as yet un-bagged, live shellfish were found on the mud (a further 100 kg) and were left by the officers to redisperse in the tide.
The commercial harvesting of oysters is strictly regulated in order to protect public health and prevent the outbreak of potentially fatal viruses.
Cllr Mark Flewitt, cabinet member for public protection, welcomed the seizure. He said: “Oysters collected from Southend's beaches are not safe for human consumption without going through a lengthy purification process or being thoroughly cooked. This is why the commercial collection is tightly regulated, with a docketing system ensuring that oysters can be traced from their original source to their point of sale.
“When oysters are illegally harvested and sold on, none of these checks are in place and oysters carrying norovirus and other nasty illnesses can end up being sold on the black market with serious consequences for public health.
“What's more, with the shellfish industry being such an important part of the borough’s economy, any illegal commercial activity undermines and undercuts our borough’s legitimate shellfish harvesters. Any subsequent food poisoning outbreak could severely damage the local industry's international reputation for quality.
“I’d like to thank our Environmental Health Officers and Essex Police for their swift and decisive action in preventing over half a tonne of unsafe shellfish from entering the food chain.”
The seized live oysters have been redispersed in the water, while the shucked oysters had to be destroyed.
To read all our other news please click here
ADD A COMMENT
Note: If comment section is not showing please log in to Facebook in another browser tab and refresh.