When lobsters thrash in boiling water are they agonizing in pain?

tragic_flawed

yes they are- recent research and some newly published books have suggested this- and there have been some controversy among restaurants dumping live lobsters into boiling water! The Secret Life of Lobster by Trevor Corson mentioned this and started a controversy a few years ago. Mar 27 07, 7:51 PM

zbeckabee

QUOTE: A study, funded by the Norwegian government and written by a scientist at the University of Oslo (search), suggests lobsters and other invertebrates such as crabs, snails and worms probably don't suffer even if lobsters do tend to thrash in boiling water. "Lobsters and crabs have some capacity of learning, but it is unlikely that they can feel pain," concluded the 39-page report, aimed at determining if creatures without backbones should be subject to animal welfare legislation as Norway revises its animal welfare law. Lobster biologists in Maine have maintained for years that the lobster's primitive nervous system and underdeveloped brain are similar to that of an insect. While lobsters react to different stimuli, such as boiling water, the reactions are escape mechanisms, not a conscious response or an indication of pain, they say. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147667,00.html Mar 27 07, 7:58 PM

What-A-Mess

If a Lobster is place in a freezer for 20 minutes prior to being thrust in to the boiling cauldron, all senses are nearly deadened by the state of semi-hibernation due to the slowing of the metabolic state form the cold. ".....It was found that the best way to minimize the tail movements of the lobster upon boiling is by placing the lobster in the freezer for a period of 5 - 10 minutes in order to numb the lobster before cooking." http://www.helpwithcooking.com/seafood-shellfish/how-to-cook-lobster.html http://www.helpwithcooking.com/seafood-shellfish/how-to-cook-lobster.html Mar 27 07, 8:12 PM

lanfranco

Not that I'm particularly worried about the sufferings of lobsters (callous of me, I know,), but -- do you have to cook it longer if you shove it into the freezer first? Just curious. Mar 27 07, 8:40 PM

star_gazer

FT Cooking Chat Board. Mar 27 07, 8:51 PM

hidoll

I have to sayy yes they are in pain but olny for a few seconds. I have heard the sound they make when they dumped into the boiling hot water. It's not a good sound but I heard that after they're dumped into the boiling hot water they die within seconds Mar 27 07, 8:59 PM

peasypod

I tend to place them in the freezer for a short while, just to 'anesthetize' the nerve centres before splitting them (easier to handle). But to the aficionado's palate, the introduction to the freezer prior, is noticeable. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072711805.html Mar 27 07, 9:09 PM

zbeckabee

I eat tuna...it is a much better source of mercury. Mar 28 07, 8:29 AM