Raw oysters at The Big E: is it safe?

Raw oysters play a big role at Center Square Grill in East Longmeadow, making them a natural addition to the company’s new restaurant at the Big E.

NOLA Cajun Kitchen and Raw Bar is a new restaurant at The Big E operated by Bill Collins of Center Square Grill. The menu includes raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, conch towers, Maryland Cajun crab cakes, fried crawfish tails, Jamaican jerk chicken with dirty rice and jambalaya, according to the press release.

But raw oysters, shrimp cocktails and clam towers at a fair might make some people pause and ask: “Is this safe?”

“We feel very comfortable with our (hazard analysis and critical control point) plan that we have already created and presented to the Department of Health to show them how we will operate safely,” Collins told MassLive.

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A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan is a written document that addresses the identification, assessment and control of food safety hazards.

But the plan wasn’t just an afterthought. The building that formerly housed Craz-E Burger was redesigned with the goal of ensuring the safety of the seafood.

Renovations include three roll-up doors leading to a brand new kitchen, a beer garden along the porch that can seat up to 70 people and a bar with two bar troughs serving raw oysters, shrimp cocktails and clam towers. In addition, “brand new, state-of-the-art refrigeration technology” was purchased, Collins said.

Their plan also includes storing each piece of shellfish on ice and labeling it with the oyster farm’s labels, “so we always know exactly where it comes from and what exactly is being served,” he said.

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“And that’s exactly how we operate at Center Square Grille in East Longmeadow,” Collins added. “So if you’re looking for oysters, you can feel free to come to us at Nola Cajun Kitchen and Raw Bar.”

In addition, The Big E and West Springfield ensure that each food vendor is subject to the same standards under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code and state sanitation regulations as any other restaurant in West Springfield.

To be allowed to sell food at Big E, each vendor must apply for a permit, undergo an inspection and then, provided there are no significant violations, be allowed to participate in the fair.

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Vendors will later be re-inspected based on their risk level, which is determined by the foods they serve and their handling practices, said Jeanne Galloway, West Springfield’s health director.

And it’s not the first time raw oysters have been sold at The Big E. The Matunuck Oyster Bar started selling them in 2014, delivering them fresh from Rhode Island every morning.

In her nearly 18 years with the health department, Galloway told MassLive last year that she was not aware of a single food safety violation at Big E that resulted in a fine.

NOLA Cajun Kitchen and Raw Bar plans to serve a variety of oysters, including Wellfleets and Blue Points.

Collins recommends champagne, which is also available at The Big E. And if you want to take your oysters to go, they’ll pack some ice to go with them, he said.