‘I’ll have them with hot sauce’: should vegans eat oysters?

Bivalve veganism is built on the philosophy that molluscs such as mussels and oysters feel no pain. But some say the scientific jury is still out

Alex Karol is fantasising about the next time she gets to slurp up some freshly shucked oysters. I'll have them with lemon juice, shallots, and a couple of drops of hot sauce. Sometimes, I have a couple with a splash of vodka," says the London- and Toronto-based publicist. Cost curbs her craving for oysters to one meal a month, and so even just talking about them makes her hungry. I really, really enjoy them - like, properly enjoy them. I wish that I had oysters every single day of my life."

Oysters are not to everyone's taste but Karol's enthusiasm for the filter-feeding bivalves comes as a surprise - because she is vegan. She is otherwise strict: she does not even consume honey. But a few years back she found she was struggling to get certain nutrients in suitable quantities from plants alone, and someone tipped her off to the idea that you could eat oysters and still be vegan. It was called bivalve veganism" - and Karol was sold.