The Los Angeles Department of Public Health (L.A. Public Health) has received reports of more than 40 restaurants across the Southland and in Las Vegas serving raw oysters that made people sick, according to data obtained from the health department by L.A. TACO through a public records request.
Locations, where people have reportedly been served contaminated oysters, range from swanky fine dining establishments and major grocery outlets to some of the city’s hottest new restaurants.
In most cases, the health department only received one complaint about each particular business.
Restaurants that people reported to the health department more than once include Blue Water Grill, the casual seafood fine dining chain with locations across the county, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouses. Mexico City-influenced mariscos spots Loreto and LA Cha Cha Cha were also reported more than once.
The reports were filed after L.A. Public Health warned consumers about eating raw oysters from “certain areas of Mexico” in early January.
In a press release sent on January 17, the department said they were aware of “150 suspected local cases of gastrointestinal illness linked to the consumption of raw oysters, likely caused by norovirus,” a highly contagious illness with symptoms that include intense nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
L.A. Public Health advised against eating raw oysters from Laguna De Guerrero Negro and Laguna Manuela in Baja specifically, as well as raw oysters from Bahia Salina in Sonora, Mexico.
The department asked that anybody who got sick from “eating or drinking” something file a report with the agency.
That day, L.A. Public Health received more than a dozen reports of people falling ill after eating oysters from Horses on Sunset Boulevard, LA Cha Cha Cha in the Arts District, a Von’s Grocery Store in Long Beach, and 15 other locations, according to data from the health department.
In total, consumers believe they got sick after eating at more than 45 restaurants, grocery stores, and buffets.
Most complaints were associated with businesses in Southern California, but the department also received at least one report of a restaurant serving bad oysters in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Tustin, California.
In San Diego County, more than 65 confirmed and probable cases of norovirus associated with consuming raw oysters have been identified, the Associated Press reported last week.
Here is the list of Los Angeles restaurants and businesses that diners have reported to the health department after consuming raw oysters.
Note: These reported incidents are entirely the result of individuals’ own self-reported claims and have not necessarily been proven.
