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The French government today announced that it was scrapping a controversial method for safety testing oysters on mice which has long been condemned as old-fashioned and unscientific.

For years, freshly-harvested oysters have been checked for harmful toxins by means of the “mouse bioassay”, in which rodents are injected with digestive fluids from oysters.

The test, in which three mice are injected with concentrated oyster fluids, decrees that, if two of the mice have died within 24 hours, a temporary ban on local sales must be implemented.

Change In Testing Laws To Guarantee Survival Of Oyster Farms, & Mice

For five successive years, negative mice test results have resulted in sales bans in key oyster-producing locations, shutting down business during periods of high demand and forcing many farmers into bankruptcy.

But in a move that prompted widespread relief among farmers in Europe’s biggest oyster-producing country, the Ministry of Agriculture said safety would from now on be established through more advanced chemical tests.

“It is huge news. I am delighted because the political promises have finally been kept,” Olivier Laban, the president of the Arcachon oyster farmers’ association, said

Read More>The Guardian