The Washington Post reports that U.S. federal regulators have failed to solve a serious health problem involving raw oysters, which are the most common source of seafood-related death in the country, according to a new report from a government watchdog group.

For about a decade, the Food and Drug Administration has been pushing the shellfish industry to reduce the number of illnesses caused by naturally occurring bacterium found in raw or undercooked Gulf Coast oysters. But these oysters continue to sicken about 32 people on average each year, killing about half of them, said the report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

Efforts to educate consumers about the dangers have not made a dent in the illness rate, nor has a push to stunt the bacterium’s growth by quickly refrigerating the oysters after they are harvested, the report said. As problems persisted, the FDA ordered the Gulf Coast states, which produce about 60 percent of the nation’s oysters, to eliminate the bacterium using various processing methods. The states, backed by their congressional representatives, resisted.

Now, federal regulators are in limbo, unable to reach agreement on the best way forward with a group of state and industry officials that plays a central role in enforcing shellfish safety guidelines, the GAO report concluded.