La. restaurants fight FDA plan to ban raw oysters

METAIRIE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Restaurant Association has joined the fight to stop the Food and Drug Administration from banning sales of raw oysters from the Gulf Coast during the warm months.

The restaurant group is urging restaurants, fishermen and the public to call their members of Congress and the White House to get the FDA to rescind its plan.

Jim Funk, the president of the restaurant group, called the FDA's action "too extreme."

Earlier this month, the FDA said it planned to ban raw oysters beginning in 2011. The agency says raw oysters pose a health risk and that they should be sterilized before being sold.

The agency's plan has sparked a strong reaction from restaurants and the oyster industry on the Gulf Coast.

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