Would you eat Gulf seafood if the government says it's safe?

The Gulf accounts for a majority of the domestic shrimp and oysters eaten by Americans and about 2 percent of overall U.S. seafood consumption. But with safety suspicions abounding, consumers are turning up their noses and some wary suppliers appear to be turning to imports.

Some fishing grounds remain closed as that oil continues to wash through the Gulf, but state and federal tests have shown samples of seafood in some areas safe to eat. The Food and Drug Administration says chemical dispersants used to break up the oil do not pose a public health concern.

Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, sought to ease consumers' minds and palates by saying this week he would eat Gulf seafood himself and "serve it to my family."

Such assurances appear to be doing little to quell distaste for Gulf seafood, though.

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So, would you eat Gulf seafood if it's declared safe? Lots of jobs do depend on demand.

The oil floats right? So it's only surface animals that get sludged. I would say yes than, esp. in light of those findings. After all, it's "natural" oil. Unrefined I mean, so it should bio-degrade quicker than refined.

Give me some bottom dwellers (many many of the things we eat live on or near the bottom of shallow waters) and I will eat them and savor it.

I would like to Obama try it first.

I would like to Obama try it first.

nikola96

I try to eat as little sea food as possible. It's good every now and then, but I tend to stick with lean pork. With that said, hell no.

Ha, no.

Nope. It will be quite a while before I eat seafood (don't ever know what the source is for sure)rawsavon

You know there would be quite a lot of screaming in the press if oil-tainted seafood was on the market.

Not a chance.

If the only thing to worry about in the gulf was the oil perhaps my answer would be different.

But with the dispersants in the gulf any shrimp I buy are gonna say either "Product of Vietnam" or "Farm Raised" for at least a couple years if not a decade. I don't care what the FDA has to say on the matter.

I don't eat seafood anyways, so it doesn't matter to me.

[QUOTE="rawsavon"]Nope. It will be quite a while before I eat seafood (don't ever know what the source is for sure)topsemag55

You know there would be quite a lot of screaming in the press if oil-tainted seafood was on the market.

I'd be hesitant, and It depends largely on who in the government is saying it's safe. I remember Giuliani and Bush talking about how safe it was to be in the areas surrounding Ground Zero shortly after the attacks, and it just wasn't true and the people that believed them are much more likely to develop some sort of respiratory illness if they haven't already. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to want to recuperate the Gulf's seafood industry as quickly as possible because of how dependent the economy down there is on said industry, and caution might not be practiced as throughly as it should be.

I'd be hesitant, and It depends largely on who in the government is saying it's safe. I remember Giuliani and Bush talking about how safe it was to be in the areas surrounding Ground Zero shortly after the attacks, and it just wasn't true and the people that believed them are much more likely to develop some sort of respiratory illness if they haven't already. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to want to recuperate the Gulf's seafood industry as quickly as possible because of how dependent the economy down there is on said industry, and caution might not be practiced as throughly as it should be.

-Sun_Tzu-

Which would you believe more...the FDA, USDA, or Fish & Wildlife could all weigh in on this if they wanted to.

I'm allergic to fish and shellfish, so no.

Thankfully, being on the east coast means I don't have to worry about this problem.

Still, a BP public relations guy telling me the shrimp is fine is like taking advice from a coffin salesman about a persistent cough.

Ha, no.

Gaming-Planet

Don't see why I wouldn't.

It's not as if seafood was ever really "safe" to begin with, what with filter-feeding oysters and fish with dangerously high mercury levels. If I was eating that stuff before, then a little oil disaster isn't gonna stop me now.

The oil floats right?

my_mortal_coil

Not all the time. There are hundreds of miles of deep sea oil plumes that sank naturally, coupled with the toxic dispersant used by BP affecting the plankton on the sea bed, and those animals that eat it.

I don't see how a little oil could be any worse than the mercury already present is seafood. So sure, why not?

Absolutely. I believe in what the government says 100 percent.