You may want to think twice before your next trip to the raw bar. The Food and Drug Administration announced last month that it plans to require producers of certain raw oysters to begin post-harvest processing of their catch to kill the deadly bacterium vibrio vulnificus. Infection by vibrio vulnificus can result in serious illness and even death in immunocompromised individuals. The government’s plan has pitted public health advocates against oyster producers and their allies in Washington.

The future regulations apply only to oysters harvested in the Gulf Coast region of the United States during the summer months, when warm waters create an ideal environment for vibrio vulnificus growth. According to the CDC, the bacterium can cause a wide range of symptoms. In healthy patients, symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In patients with weakened immune systems, symptoms can be much more serious, and can include fever, skin lesions and septic shock. In cases where vibrio vulnificus infects the blood, the mortality rate is a staggering 50 percent.

The regulations will require oyster producers to process their catch to kill vibrio vulnificus in a process that has been compared to pasteurization. The FDA says that post-harvest processing can be achieved in one of four ways: quick freezing, mild heating, high hydrostatic pressurization, or low-dose gamma irradiation. The process is said to slightly alter the taste and texture of the oysters, but is extremely effective in killing vibrio vulnificus.

Food and Drug Administration officials see a clear solution to a critical public health issue. Michael Taylor, a top official at the FDA, pointed out concrete results after California instituted a similar ban in 2003. “Between 1991 and 2001,” he said “40 deaths had occurred in the state due to vibrio vulnificus. Once post-harvest processing was required, the number of deaths dropped to zero.”

But the Gulf Coast oyster industry, along with legislators from Gulf Coast states, are raising opposition to the plan. They claim the new regulations will triple their costs while ruining the taste of a local delicacy, and prompt job losses. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Representative Charlie Melancon (D-La.) have both introduced legislation in an attempt to block the new regulations. In a letter to the FDA, Rep. Melancon wrote, “fresh, live oysters are not only a Louisiana delicacy, they are part of our heritage and our way of life.”

But food safety advocates are undeterred in their support for the FDA regulations. David Plunkett, of the consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest says “Over 250 people have become ill and half of those have died since 2001, and if this industry-supported legislation passes, the toll of preventable death and disease caused by contaminated oysters will continue to rise.” The regulations are scheduled to take effect in 2011.