Remember New Coke? No one would drink it, it was awful, filthy, wretched stuff. And now most of the people drinking Coke either have no idea what Old Coke was or else can't remember. This also smacks of the bills that have outlawed smoking, first in restaurants and later in bars. All the service owners said they would be driven out of business. One guy in my town insisted that if people couldn't smoke in his restaurant that he might as well sell out because he'd go out of business anyway. The new owner gutted and fixed up the place and most nights you have to wait for a table. Bars? There are three new bars in my small town that have opened in the last year. What people dislike is *change*. But once the change has come, like a sudden downpour, they start to dry off and get used to the new situation. The guy protesting that he wouldn't be allowed to install the new equipment in the Quarter protesteth too much-- who says the equipment has to be where his restaurant is? In fact, wouldn't he be better off getting together with some other oystermen and setting up a pasteurizing plant they could all share to make the cost less a burden?

Pasteurized, the oysters will still be pretty darn raw and if old timers think they'll stay away in droves, they'll just be replaced by new timers, and in a short time, no one will remember what the flap was about anyway...

Most people have no idea what "old Coke" is because Coca-cola dropped New Coke shortly after it was introduced, replacing it with "Classic Coke," aka, the old formula. People could tell the difference and didn't like it so much, Coke had to do a very embarrassing and expensive about-face.

DuckworkerMike:

You clearly didn't read this article (and nor did the Slate editors who highlighted your comment), because everything you say makes no sense.

This situation is in no way analogous to Coke changing its formula. Unprocessed raw oysters will still be available half the year. People will hardly forget what they taste like.

And P&J Oysters is not a restaurant in the French Quarter. It's a major oyster distributor located in the Quarter. Yes, the French Quarter is more than just a place for tourists, and it would be a real shame to lose one of the companies that has a long history in that neighborhood.

You have stated the problem quite well.

As a young person that regularly drinks unpasteurized orange juice (and boy does it taste different!), I think the original poster has no idea what he is talking about. What I got from the article is that it is mostly just going to negatively affect small business owners that cannot afford pasteurization. And it is suspect that this is being done when only a handful of people die a year in comparison to the damage that can be done to so many by salmonella or e. coli.

This also made me think of all the recommendations to avoid raw fish while pregnant. I read a lot about that while I was pregnant, and pretty much ended up eating more sushi that usual (I had cravings). Pretty much it pointed out that the concern was for parasites which can be taken care of (except for the eggs) by freezing the fish, which is the law in New York where I live. Many articles I read pointed out that I was in more danger from eating improperly prepared chicken than eating raw fish.

I think that this is also comparable to the lead testing many small companies here in the US have to do when it comes to anything intended for children. This is really hurting small businesses that are selling things like felted wool toys and unpainted wood. I worked in the fashion industry, and part time for a children's clothing line before I left the industry. And lead is a huge problem. A huge problem when you are selling things made in China.

All this just seems like the federal government trying to say it is helping the average American, when in fact they are not going after large companines or industries that may indeed be doing harm and instead going after small fry that really aren't having much of an effect on the majority of Americans.

themrlee is right except that the switchback to old Coke was the marketing coup of the century <link>. Some even think it was Goizueta's plan all along..