Call me a traditionalist (I was raised on Chesapeake Bay oysters) but... the rule of thumb was always "Don't eat oysters in any month without an 'R' in it."
That would be May, June July and August. I'm not sure of the origins of this, but it is a myth indeed as old as the hills. I think that, at least back East, it had to do with the higher water temps during those months and toxic algae blooms. Oysters are filter feeders and eating them during those months could make you sick.
Google is your friend:
So far as the United States is concerned, this is not true. Under commercial raising and harvesting conditions, oysters and other shellfish are safe and good to eat any month of the year. Certain European oyster which brood their young in months without an “r” are less palatable at that time of year, but this rule doesn’t apply to U.S. oysters, which don’t brood their young. As a contradiction to the myth about “r” months, shellfish containing a paralytic shellfish poison are occasionally found along the Pacific Coast in “r” months. When this occurs, people are warned against gathering and eating these particular shellfish. The California Department of Health places a quarantine on the harvesting of mussels between May1 and October 31; and along the Oregon Coast, people are warned by the news media against gathering and eating the mussels that cling to rocks that rim the beaches. The cardinal rule is that any commercially available shellfish is non-toxic and safe to eat. While Vibrio vulnificus bacteria are more prevalent in warmer months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a full 40% of cases occur from September through April, again dispelling the idea not to eat oysters in the months without “r”s in them.
Note that it said commercially available in the US, not from an estuary in Mexico. Youse pays your money; youse takes yer chances! In all my years of gobbling up yum-yum everything in Mexico, I'm fortunate that I've only had one really bad bout of food poisoning (and that was from chicken, not seafood). Thought I was gonna die, until the Immodium finally kicked in and gave some relief.
Kind of like the big chocolate clams I've seen offered on the street further south in Mexico. I've had friends open and slurp them on the spot. Sorry... they aren't even cold and I don't know how long they've been sitting there in the sun. Nope, not me. But fresh scallops right out of the water and shell on the beach at Punta Chivato? Oh yeah, I'd slurp down a belly full!
Pass the cocktail sauce, please... :lobster:
