Oysters are usually alive when you eat them

Oysters notoriously go bad very quickly. To serve them as fresh as possible to avoid giving diners food poisoning, restaurants try to source its shellfish on the same day.

That means that by the time the oyster reaches your mouth, it may only have been out of the ocean for mere hours - and that means it's probably breathing.

In fact, chefs check oysters before serving them to see if they are still alive as it lessens the chance of harmful bacteria forming if they are still breathing.