Tallahassee, Florida - The lunch crowd is filing in at the Wharf Express in Tallahassee and folks are hungry for some seafood.
Customer Gail McCall is savoring her shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. She's not concerned about Gulf seafood a year after the BP oil spill.
"Never stopped eating it," said McCall.
McCall is in the minority according to one survey. It found more than 60 percent of consumers still have lingering questions about the safety of Gulf seafood.
And restaurants admit since the oil spill they've fielded more questions about their seafood. Where did it come from? Is it safe?
Now, the Florida Department of Agriculture is starting an online training program for restaurant workers, so when they get questions about the safety of Gulf seafood, they can offer answers based on the evidence.
The online training is part of the Florida Gulf Safe campaign, which aims to restore people's confidence in the product.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has been studying the research on consumers' attitudes about Gulf seafood.
"The closer people lived to the water the higher the level of confidence they had in it because they could look out their window every day and see that everything was fine. But as you got into the interior areas of the state, confidence levels fell," said Putnam.
He's excited about the new online training program because it's another tool to help diminish persistent misperceptions about Gulf seafood.
"We developed this online training program that's real-time, face to face, answering questions, training them on how to give good, accurate information in a way that restores confidence."
The training will be offered to thousands of restaurants across Florida in the coming months as the seafood industry continues its efforts to move on from the BP spill.
In the meantime, the Florida Department of Agriculture continues one of the most aggressive Gulf seafood testing programs in history. Funded with $10 million from BP, the department tests seafood for hydrocarbons. The lab has tested about 350 samples since August 2010 and all findings have been well below the FDA's levels of concern.
BP also gave Florida $10 million for seafood marketing. The Florida Gulf Safe campaign is trying to reach people through billboards, tollbooth signs, and magazine ads.