Nothing stimulates gastronomic debate like the question of proper oyster consumption.

Then there are the health scares that have resulted from highly publicized cases of illness, some fatal, stemming from oyster consumption.

Having had her reputation and those of her three children ruined after her embarrassment by a vomiting accident Frank caused due to a misunderstanding about oyster consumption, she has a 200-yard restraining order against him to prevent any further embarrassment.

Bouziques' oysters, from the Etang, provide about 10% of France's annual oyster consumption.

Unlike in Europe, oyster consumption in North America after colonization by Europeans was never confined to class, and oysters were commonly served in taverns.

An 1881 U.S. government fisheries study counted 379 oyster houses in the Philadelphia city directory alone, a figure explicitly not including oyster consumption at hotels or other saloons.

Jonathan Swift is quoted as having said, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster", but evidence of oyster consumption goes back into prehistory, evidenced by oyster middens found worldwide.

Persons with weakened immune systems, including those affected by AIDS, and persons with chronic alcohol abuse, liver, stomach or blood disorders, cancer, diabetes or kidney disease should avoid raw oyster consumption altogether, regardless of where the oysters are harvested.

The nationwide drop in oyster consumption, from 75 million pounds in 1956 to 33 million in 1993, may also have to do with changing American tastes.

"Our Beluga caviar consumption has tripled, our oyster consumption has almost doubled, and our champagne consumption has quintupled this year," Nicola Rex, a manager of the five-star Hassler Hotel on top of the Spanish Steps, said.