Sec. 436.106.  TEMPERATURE ABUSE.  If temperature abuse of oysters associated with possible Vibrio parahaemolyticus illnesses is identified at any point in the market chain from harvest to consumer, the department may not designate a harvest area as a closed area if the temperature abuse is the probable cause of the illness.  This section does not preclude closures for investigations conducted in accordance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program that are necessary to protect public health.  If a harvest area has been designated as a closed area because the investigation could not be completed within the time required in the National Shellfish Sanitation Program and temperature abuse is determined, as a result of the investigation, to be the probable cause of the illnesses, the harvest area must be immediately designated as an open area.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1298, Sec. 3, eff. June 18, 1999.