Hood Canal Oil Spill: NOAA Food Tasters Say Shellfish are Safe

NOAA's "Sniff Test"

(Can you smell everything?)

click here for NOAA "sniff test" details

A NOAA "sensory panel" has said shellfish in Hood Canal pass the "sniff test" and are safe to eat. As a result the Department of Health has released this statement:

We are lifting the shellfish harvest advisory in portions of the Hood Canal #1 and #2 growing areas effective immediately based on results from a sensory panel conducted by NOAA on representative samples throughout the shellfish harvest advisory and emergency closure areas.

It is unknown whether the Department of Health will propose the "sniff test" to the Chinese when they meet over concerns of shellfish safety and testing. China claimed to have received geoduck from Washington with elevated levels of arsenic and from Alaska with elevated levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning toxins. Their concerns resulted in China's blocking the import of shellfish, including geoduck, from the west coast. That ban has been in place since December 5. [click here for EarthFix report]