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Everything You Need to Know About Oysters
The Journal
Expertise

Everything You Need to Know About Oysters

Martine 9 February 2026 7 min

What is an Oyster?

The oyster is a bivalve marine mollusc with a layered or rough shell, edible and prized for millennia. Rich in vitamins, minerals, and protein, it comes in over a hundred varieties worldwide.

Whether you prefer them juicy, plump, salty, sweet, mineral, firm, mild, or vegetal, there's an oyster for everyone. That's the magic of this unique product.

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How to Taste Oysters

Oysters can be enjoyed at any time of day, as a starter or a full meal. The most popular way to eat them — and the most appreciated — is raw and alive.

Once an oyster is opened, check that it retracts at the touch: that's the sign it's fresh and alive. Don't wait more than one hour between opening and eating to preserve their full freshness.

To eat: detach the mollusc from the shell with an oyster fork, then chew and bite to enjoy all their flavour. If you prefer to swallow them whole, that's perfectly fine too — the most important thing is to enjoy the moment!

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Impressive Numbers

  • A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day — they clean the water of natural turbidity and filter algae and phytoplankton.
  • Just 14 calories per oyster, for exceptional nutritional density:
  • 0.5 g of fat
  • 1.42 g of protein
  • 16% of daily vitamin D intake
  • 67% of daily vitamin B12 intake
  • 46% of daily copper intake
  • 125% of daily zinc intake!
  • All that in a single oyster.

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    Did You Know?

  • Oysters have existed on Earth for 265 million years.
  • They can change sex during their lifetime — and nobody knows exactly how or why.
  • Marine oysters can take up to 5 years to reach market size (about 3 inches).
  • The more you eat them, the better it is for the environment: oyster farmers use the revenue from every sale to reseed and repopulate their waters. By eating oysters, you're helping preserve marine ecosystems.
  • Keep eating — you're saving the world!