The transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from bivalves, through the food chain to vertebrates was of concern. Our research aimed at estimating potential effects for consumers resulting from the ingestion of seafood contaminated by oil spill pollutants.After the “Erika” wreck, mussels (Mytilus sp.) were collected from sites of the Atlantic coast impacted to various degrees by the oil slick and constituted contaminated food for rats during 2 and 4 weeks. Genotoxic damage were studied in rats by means of COMET assay carried out in liver, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Biochemical and genomic effects such as the induction of CYP 1A1 and the expression of cytochrome genes were measured in rat livers. The most sensitive biological parameter reflecting the transfer of contaminants via the food appeared to be DNA breaks studied by means of the COMET assay. Genotoxic damage, observed mainly in the liver, were rather moderate and remained not persistent. This study underlined the bioavailability of pollutants in fuel oil contaminated mussels for consumers, and the complexity of the contamination consecutive to the oil spill. The occurrence of related PAH compounds in addition to non-substituted PAHs in fuel oils and mussels raised the question of their implication in the registered effects.