The £1 oyster: cut-price shellfish is all the rage – but is eating it advisable?
Name: Oysters,Age: Triassic – so about 250m years old,Appearance: Grey and snotty,Oysters, eh? What pearls of wisdom (see what I did there) do you have for me on the noxious bivalve? You’re not a fan, then?Absolutely not,What desperation drove early humans to think, “Time to smash open this forbidding, rock-like blob and eat whatever godforsaken, gelatinous mess it disgorges”? Well, younger diners don’t agree – they’ve gone mad for oysters.
They’re “cool” now, according to the Times: one vendor says sales are up 10% on last year, and oyster bars and market stalls are generating the kind of queues normally seen at Chappell Roan gigs and matcha pop-ups.How can they afford it? Oysters cost the earth, don’t they? Historically, oysters were cheap as chips – a working-class staple of the 18th and 19th centuries.They are dearer now, but bars’ oyster “happy hours”, at which you can get them for £1 apiece, are very popular.I still don’t get it – you can get tastier, more filling and Instagrammable food for less than that.Well, it’s a trend, perhaps partially attributable to influencer and oyster obsessive Georgiana Davies – she boggles young minds by eating vast numbers, including 70 for breakfast at one happy hour.
Seventy! That’s a medieval monarch amount of molluscs! Davies is a lightweight compared to competitive oyster-eaters: Sonya “the Black Widow” Thomas ate 46 dozen in 2005.That’s 552 oysters.In about 10 minutes.That cannot be good for a person.Oysters are a great source of protein, omega-3s and minerals, especially zinc.
But when things go wrong, they go extremely wrong.“You can get very sick from eating raw oysters,” the US Center for Disease Control warns.There’s a risk of infection, from the likes of norovirus, or worse – the potentially deadly vibrio bacteria.Deadly? I thought they just gave you a dodgy tummy.A vibrio vulnificus infection can lead to limb amputation and even death: two people in Louisiana died this summer after eating contaminated oysters.
This confirms all my prejudices about oysters.And yet people keep coming back.As chef Richard Corrigan said to the Times, “It’s a brave person indeed, the person who puts an oyster in their mouth, but after that really, the passion hits you.”“Passion”, eh? They’re said to be an aphrodisiac – maybe the youth are hoping to revive their notoriously flagging sex lives? Oysters do contain lots of zinc, which is important for male sexual function especially, but it’s probably a stretch to say they boost libido.Pfff.
So why bother queueing to eat them? They’re an eco-friendly way to hit your #proteingoals.Oysters don’t need feeding – they get nourishment from nutrients in seawater – and production emits very little carbon; French marine researcher Fabrice Pernet told New Scientist magazine that farmed bivalves are “one of the greenest foods”.And there’s nothing sexier than sustainability.Do say: “What’s grey, quivering and clammy?”Don’t say: “A Gen-Zer after a dodgy £1 oyster.”
South Africa claim historic World Cup final spot as Wolvaardt blows England away
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Australia will target Freeman at centre in England clash, George Gregan warns
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Wallabies resume England rivalry with memories still fresh of Twickenham triumph | Angus Fontaine
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NFL’s No 1 draft pick Cam Ward victim of identity theft in $250,000 scheme
Two people armed with a number of false identities managed to fraudulently obtain a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of loans in the name of Cam Ward, the quarterback of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans, according to authorities.Albert Weber, 42, and Cyntrelle Lash, 39, are facing charges of identity theft, bank fraud and forgery after their arrests in a case whose victims allegedly include the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, his father and the business that loaned out the money in question, said Capt Jason Rivarde of the sheriff’s office in Jefferson parish, Louisiana, outside New Orleans.While attempts to contact Lash for comment were unsuccessful, Weber vehemently denied wrongdoing, suggesting the actions attributed to him were carried out by someone else who falsely assumed his identity.The case in any event highlights how increasingly common fraud involving professional athletes has become amid rises in their endorsement and salary income, as highlighted by a 2021 report from global accounting and consulting firm EY.As Rivarde put it, beginning in March, Weber and Lash worked together to secure multiple loans cumulatively worth at least $250,000 in the name of Ward, whose four-year rookie contract with the Titans is reportedly worth about $48
The Spin | Sophie Devine’s impact on women’s cricket should be measured in more than statistics
The New Zealand legend played with joy and fun, but was also a true fighter who spanned eras in the women’s gameAs the Women’s World Cup has progressed, sanding down the edges and turning up the four semi-finalists you might have predicted from the start, a sideshow has been quietly playing stage left. A down-to-earth sideshow – just like the woman herself – the Sophie Devine farewell.Devine made her New Zealand debut in October 2006, in an ODI and T20 series against Australia. Nineteen years later, still with the same open face and broad smile, she has played her final one-day international – a losing affair against England neither side will polish up for the mantelpiece. The most memorable moment came at the end with the affectionate guard of honour given to Devine by both sides and the Māori tribute led by Melie Kerr and sung by her teary teammates as the stadium emptied
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