People who would never eat a lobster on welfare grounds will tell you that eating these shellfish is comparable to cannibalism. Like humans, a lobster has an extended childhood, a difficult adolescence, carries its unborn young for nine months and can live to 100 years, according to People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, adding that they suffer when boiled alive. It is hard to argue with their campaign though the human comparison is bad science, or pure coincidence. The boiling method is used to kill crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimps and family) because if not killed and cooked immediately, bacteria present in the body multiply quickly, the flesh deteriorates and it can become unsafe to eat. It is possible to kill the crustacean first, piercing the nerve centres then cooking straigh
05 June 2014, The Tablet
Make it snappy – it’s kinder
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