Perspective Chapter: Health and Safety in Oyster Aquaculture

Abstract

The globalization of oyster markets has accelerated the commercial exchange of food, needing to implement strategies that contribute to ensuring the safety of food products. Among the factors that can threaten the safety of oysters are chemical contaminants (heavy metals, antibiotics, pesticides, etc.), biological (viruses, bacteria, etc.), and physical (pieces of metal, splinters, among others). These characteristics, together with the organoleptic, commercial, and nutritional ones, constitute the basic requirements that must be considered to access the various markets because they provide a high degree of confidence to the consumer. Oyster products for human consumption need a sanitary certification that guarantees the quality of their products and ensures competitive and permanent participation in the market. To achieve this, each link in the chain food industry must establish controls and activities that minimize contamination risks.