Countywide : It’s Back: Poison Shellfish Season
Orange County health officials are warning the public to avoid eating mussels and other shellfish collected from California coastal waters through the end of October.
Sport-fishing of mussels is prohibited in the oceans, bays and inlets of California every year from May through October because deadly, natural poisons tend to build up in their organs and tissues this time of year. Consumption can lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can be fatal.
The quarantine applies only to mussels collected locally by sports harvesters, not to shellfish sold in restaurants and stores. Commercially caught shellfish are routinely tested for the toxin and certified by state officials.
Although the toxin can collect in clams, oysters and scallops, the danger is highest with mussels. Cooking does not destroy it, and poisonous shellfish cannot be distinguished from harmless ones.
More than 500 cases of paralytic poisoning have occurred in California since the 1920s, including 32 deaths, officials said.
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