East Suffolk Council
Handling of live oysters and mussels at retail and catering outlets
Handling and serving live oysters or mussels is different to handling and serving other ready-to eat foods. You need to look after a live animal and ensure that it remains alive until it is either eaten or cooked. In the event of an incident or recall it is essential to be able to trace oyster or mussels back to the dispatch centre they came from.
These notes will help you to maintain traceability and maintain your oysters or mussels in the best condition so that the health and satisfaction of your customers is safeguarded.
Traceability
All packages of live oysters or mussels must be accompanied by a dated health/ID mark on an indelible, water resistant label like the one shown below.
This label shows the identification number of the establishment from which they have come (in the oval), a batch number, date of packaging and declaration that animals must be alive when sold.
These details should be sufficient to identify the actual bed from which the oysters or mussels were harvested. Keep the ID/health mark details for at least 60 days in case this information is needed. The easiest way to do this is to affix the label into your food safety records or (SFBB) diary on the day of delivery.
Try to avoid using oysters or mussels from different suppliers at the same time, but if this is unavoidable devise your own method of being able to identify who ate oysters or mussels from which supplier.
Reception and delivery
- Check the health/ID mark. If there is no health/ID mark or information about the source, reject the consignment.
- Check that the vehicle is clean and that the oysters or mussels have not been mixed with raw fish or kept in hot and dirty conditions.
Storage
- Always keep the oysters stored with the curved (convex) side downwards. This helps to retain the fluid in the shell and keep them alive.
- Store the oysters or mussels in a deep bowl (to prevent leaks) and away from other open foods. Do not store below raw meat or fish.
- Keep them cool (ideally between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius). Do not re-immerse oysters or mussels in water. They will have been properly purified at the depuration centre and any further immersion risks re-contaminating them.
Handling
- Wash (and dry) your hands thoroughly using warm soapy water, before handling and opening the oysters.
- Ensure the oysters or mussels are tightly shut. If they are already open they are not alive and shouldn't be eaten.
- Ensure that the knives and other equipment (including gloves if you wear them) used for opening the oysters are all clean before you start.
- Check that the outside shells of the oysters or mussels are clean and avoid pushing any mud or bits of shell into the oyster as you open it.
- Use a cleaned or different shucking knife for each batch of oysters.
- Serve promptly. Ideally only shuck oysters to order.
Food handlers' fitness to work
It is important to ensure that any food handlers suffering from gastrointestinal illness are excluded from work relating to food handling duties and that they cannot enter a food handling area. This exclusion is usually for 48 hours after an individual no longer shows symptoms of illness. This is particularly important when handling products that are served raw, such as oysters.
Bacteria and viruses can still be found in someone's faeces after symptoms stop. It is therefore important that managers continue to exclude food handlers for a period of time after this. It is recommended that people should be excluded for 48 hours after they stop showing symptoms of diarrhoea.