MANCHESTER, Mo. — Lunchtime was packed at The Fruit Stand & Seafood in Manchester on Monday where a man purchased raw oysters.
Keith Rapp, who opened the family-ran business in 2007, told 5 On Your Side his shelves and coolers have continued to grow.
“It started off with five items, tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupes. The most popular Missouri homegrown items. That was 2007 and we pretty much just found so many local places from local honey to Amish items,” he said.
In the last six or seven years, seafood has been their biggest seller.
“It's making us look for a larger store now. The seafood game is bigger than the produce game,” Rapp said.
Those items and service reel in messages like one from a loyal customer thanking them for their food and experience.
Days later, that same man, just 54 years old, died after eating some of their raw oysters, according to the St. Louis County Department of Health which put out a health alert.
"He was a good person, he was a good guy. Five, 10, 20-minute conversations every time he was here. Unbelievable how this could have happened to anybody much a person like that," Rapp said.
The Department of Health announced that the man was infected by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which is carried by oysters and other shellfish.
Rapp immediately put out a message to customers alerting them about the bad batch-- and that they are working to figure out where exactly the oysters were harvested to stop any other potential threats.
He showed 5 On Your Side some fresh packaged oysters from the Gulf Coast that were “inspected and tested.”
Experts say oysters from anywhere contain the bacteria and are found in warm coastal waters.
The biggest tip they have is to cook the oysters fully to kill the bacteria. They also recommend always washing your hands with soap and water after handling raw shellfish.
Symptoms include fever, chills, a drop in blood pressure and skin lesions.
Rapp stated he would use this opportunity to educate their customers, more.
"Whether it be shrimp, lobsters, crawfish. If it is cooked, you are perfectly fine to eat it," he said.
All of the other oysters from the infected batch were thrown out.
The investigation will go to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Rapp and his staff have cooperated.