Does hot pepper sauce kill bacteria found on raw oysters?
Microbes are found on just about everything we eat. Meat, poultry, and seafoods harbor large numbers of bacteria and other microbes. These microbes might be on the animals when they are caught or slaughtered, or they might get on the food during processing, packaging, or shipping. Heat is one of the best methods of killing microbes, including disease-causing bacteria. Many people, however, eat foods such as oysters raw. Oysters are bottome feeders. meaning they eat decaying matter off of the ocean’s floor. Therefore, they contain many microbes when they are harvested. Pathogenic organisms that might be found on these oysters have the potential to make someone sick. Materials: Petri dishes (at least eight) Beakers Blender Autoclave Bunsen burner Tweezers Nutrient agar Seawater Sterile filter paper disks Tabasco sauce About a dozen raw, fresh oysters in their shells Eyedropper Adhesive tape Fine ruler (or vernier calipers) The Procedure: Sterilize all the glassware including beakers, Pet
