State health officials want to set stricter rules for reusing shells in certain seafood dishes, which they say can risk exposure to a deadly flesh-eating bacteria that’s seen a resurgence this year .

But along the way, they have run into a stumbling block and a very Louisiana dilemma: What counts as a bisque?

The state’s restaurant safety code for decades has said that “Mollusk and crustacean shells may not be used more than once as serving containers.”

Oysters are mollusks, and crawfish are crustaceans.

Now, the Louisiana Department of Health wants to make clear that restaurants and food retailers can’t ever reuse oyster shells to serve meat that comes from a different oyster.

“We had reports of folks taking shucked shells and using those as serving containers,” said Dr. Pete Croug

See Full Page