 Why are people in LA not eating oysters right now? This weird story starts with hundreds of people in SoCal recently getting violently ill from raw oysters. And that comes after a really bad PR year for oysters. With many food safety scientists warning it might never be safe to consume them raw. So why is this happening now? Dangerous bacteria that infect shellfish thrives in water over 68 degrees. And those LA oysters came from the Gulf of California, which like all bodies of water is getting hotter. And experts think those temp changes mean that months where it was previously safe to eat oysters might now be dangerous in certain areas. If you're not willing to give them up all together, only eat them in months that have an R, order them fully cooked, and make sure you know exactly where they came from.