The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Steve Snodgrass

The comments have been tallied after my Eco Etiquette column last week that questioned the safety of Gulf seafood, and quite frankly, I’m shocked: I was fully expecting readers to criticize my hesitancy to support our fishermen in their time of need. I was even bracing for the U-Word.

But lo and behold — and I don’t think this has ever happened on a HuffPost comments board — all 66 commenters (save one) were in agreement: No one thinks that Gulf seafood is safe. You guys wouldn’t touch the stuff with a 10-foot fishing pole.

A few impassioned opinions from the board:

Serve it to BP execs and regulators first to see if it’s really OK. –farmilyman

A few years ago we were at a restaurant advertising fresh salmon from Alaska, flown in to the restaurant. The only problem was that it was not salmon season and there was no fresh salmon to be had, even in Alaska…I suspect the same thing will happen with Gulf seafood: Restaurants will lie to keep people eating at their establishments. Our hearts go out to these folks as they work hard in the fishing industry, but my health comes first.  –copperqueen

Sure, let’s eat the rest that’s not already dead, right? –Siebenstein

If there was another point of consensus, it’s that the possibility of dispersant contamination is truly troublesome. I think this is a founded fear: The FDA spokesperson I consulted while researching the article disclosed that although professional seafood sniffers are trained to detect a mixture of dispersants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (those nasty chemicals in crude), the follow-up chemical tests look for PAHs only.

Translation: The only thing standing in the way of you and Corexit-contaminated seafood is human error.

What do you think? Will you be eating Gulf seafood anytime in the near future?

–Jennifer Grayson

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