There's no "r" in May, perhaps to the dismay of oyster lovers who have learned to follow this rule of thumb: Eat raw oysters only in months containing the letter "r."
What that adage really means is say no to raw oysters in the summer. But as it turns out, there is not much to back up the rule.
The life cycle of a particular species, the temperature and quality of the water in which an oyster grows, and how the mollusk is handled after leaving that water -- all can affect its health and taste, and your health.
"Essentially if you buy oysters that are grown in healthy waters and they're handled properly, then there's no problem with eating them any time of the year," said Donald Meritt, an aquaculturist at the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Food on 05/17/2017