- [Narrator] Most people think it's a food safety issue.

- [旁白] 大多人認為這是食物安全議題

You keep the oyster alive as long as possible

盡可能讓蠔保持活動狀態

and that reduces the risk of bacterial contamination,

可以降低食物細菌感染機率

and there is a little bit of truth to that.

而有件事可以證明這一點

Oysters can carry a scary flesh-eating bacteria called

蠔會帶原一種恐怖的食肉細菌，稱之為

Vibrio vulnificus.

海洋弧菌

You can get it from oysters

會從食用生蠔

or from swimming with an open wound in brackish water

或是身上有開放性傷口，又在這些細菌活動的鹹水中

where the bacteria lives.

游泳感染

But, let's put things in prospective.

但先把事情想得樂觀一點

- The risk of running into a bad oyster is phenomenally low.

- 吃到壞生蠔的機率非常地低

My biggest pet peeve is people like,

最讓我焦躁的是，有人

go crazy over one bad oyster in the news,

因為吃那些生蠔導致細菌感染的新聞而恐慌

but they don't really care that hundreds of thousands

但他們卻不在乎好幾百磅

of pounds of lettuce are contaminated with Salmonella.

受到沙門氏菌污染的萵苣

- [Narrator] About 100 people die

- [旁白] 每年大約有 100 個人

from Vibrio infections each year.

死於海洋弧菌

About 450 die from Salmonella.

而每年因為沙門氏菌死亡的有 450 人

Plus, the FDA requires that oyster farm have to test

而且，美國食品藥品監督管理局規定

water quality before sending oysters

把蠔送到市場上或餐廳前

out to markets and restaurants,

必須先檢驗水質

and that's important because oysters are filter feeders,

檢驗水質很重要，因為蠔是淨水生物

they soak basically anything that's in the water around them

蠔基本上會吸收其周圍的任何物質

including fecal matter which can come from rain runoff.

包括降雨中的廢棄物質

Yak, but there's a clever little secret way you can check

噁，但有一種聰明的小方法可以檢查

how fresh your oysters are.

你吃下的生蠔有多新鮮

- One thing that you can ask for is a shellfish tag,

- 你可以向店家要求查看貝類標籤

which every, retailer or restaurant is required to have

這是每家零售商或是餐廳規定在購買後

every bag of oyster that they purchase for up to 90 days,

保存期限 90 天內 ，每包蠔都規定要有的標籤

after that purchase. So, that tag, if they don't have it,

如果店家沒有貝類標籤的話

don't eat those oysters.

就別吃那些蠔

- [Narrator] This tag is a way for restaurant

- [旁白] 貝類標籤是餐廳

to track where and when the oysters were farmed.

追蹤蠔來源的一種方法

Qiu says that she looks for the most recent dates

邱表示她會查看標籤上最近的日期

on the tag, anything further out than two weeks

如果超過兩周以上的話

won't taste this good, and increases the risk

蠔就不會那麼好吃，而且會增加

of a bad oyster.

吃到壞生蠔的機率

Some chefs may look at you funny

有些主廚可能會盯著你看

for asking for this documentation,

覺得要求查看貝類標籤這種行為很搞笑

but it's a strategy that apparently works.

但這顯然是可行的策略

- I tried to do the math and I probably had

- 我算過自己生平大概

over six or seven thousand oysters by now in my lifetime

吃下超過 6 、7 千顆生蠔

and I've never gotten sick once from an oyster.

從來沒有一次因為吃生蠔而身體不適

- [Narrator] Basically, oysters are safe.

- [旁白] 基本上，吃生蠔很安全

So, question, why on earth are they still sometimes alive

所以，問題：為什麼人類有時會吃

or dying when we're eating them?

生的或是垂死的食物？

- You really want you're raw shellfish to be

- 你會希望自己吃下的生貝類

absolutely fresh and, you know, the freshest you can get

是絕對新鮮的，最新鮮的

is something that is just very recently killed.

也就是現殺的

So, it goes back to not only the food safety

所以，這超越食物安全層面

but the actual taste and the texture of that oyster

而是生蠔的實際味道以及口感

to me just far superior.

對我來說比食物安全層面重要得多

- [Narrator] So, basically freshly killed oysters

- [旁白] 所以，基本上，現殺的蠔

taste better, and it's hard to tell exactly

比較好吃，卻很難判定蠔的確切

when an oyster dies, because before it's served it's shocked

死亡時間，因為蠔被送到餐桌前已經「被休克」

and shocking is, how should I put this,

而「休克」，該怎麼說呢

shocking is not a gentle process.

讓蠔「休克」的過程一點都不溫柔

Shocking involves separating the oyster abductor muscle

讓蠔「休克」的方法是將連接貝殼的外展肌切開

form its shell, this muscle gives the oyster control over opening and closing the shell,

這條外展肌控制蠔開合外殼

similar to how your spinal cord helps you move.

和幫助人類活動的脊椎骨類似

So, severing their abductor muscle is almost like,

所以，切除蠔的外展肌就像是

severing you spine. Yikes!

切開你的脊椎，嚇死人了！

Most restaurants in the US keep their oysters alive on ice

美國大多餐廳進行蠔「休克」

up until the shocking process, which either kills the oyster

也就是殺死蠔或是將它癱瘓之前

or renders it completely immobile.

會先用冰塊保鮮

Since they don't move around much in the first place

因為蠔一開始就不太會動

it's kind of hard to tell which.

所以很難判定是哪一種

So it's easy to feel guilty sitting there, eating an oyster

這一點會讓你坐在椅子上感到罪惡

that was either just killed or is maybe dying.

罪惡自己吃下現殺或是垂死的蠔

But consider the oyster biology.

但以蠔的生理構造來看

It's very primitive, so it's possible

其構造非常原始，它們

they might not even feel pain at all.

可能根本沒有痛覺

- [Julie Qiu] They don't have a brain,

- [邱茱莉] 蠔沒有大腦

they're not really processing pain in the same way

蠔不像人類一樣有大腦傳導痛覺反應

that we process, any kind of feeling,

或是任何其他感覺

so, I don't believe that they are feeling pain

所以，我認為蠔不是我們想像的那樣

in the same way that we are thinking of it.

會感覺到痛

- [Narrator] So, really it's a up to you,

- [旁白] 所以，要不要吃生蠔全看個人

if you don't wanna eat oyster, that's fine,

如果你不想吃生蠔，也沒關係

and if you do you won't be the first.

如果不介意吃生蠔，你也不會是第一個吃生蠔的人

- It's one of the few foods that have not changed in like,

- 生蠔是一種食物，大概

thousands and thousands of years.

上萬年都沒改變過的食物

So, being able to appreciate a food that has remained

所以，我們要珍惜這種長久以來

unchanged for that long is something really special

不變的食物，這是一種相當特別

and remarkable and I think it should be celebrated

而且了不起的食物，人類應該要讚頌

for what it is.

生蠔的存在

(instrumental music)

(樂器聲)