Abstract
As it is known, many people believe that it is more correct to cook crustaceans alive because it reduces the risk of food poisoning – and saves people from pain and possible death. They also believe that the traditional cooking method tastes better when boiled alive and is considered the most common. However, recent research suggests pain perception in crustaceans, but pain is a subjective emotion, making it difficult to accurately and ethically measure it. Therefore, many activists and scientists oppose the traditional way of cooking.
Introduction
Over 500 tons of crustaceans and/or lobsters are killed annually for human consumption in Australia (Gillies et al., 2018). In particular, lobsters are known to show signs of severe stress (twitching) when they are boiled alive for consumption – which raises the question of how certain this is not a painful experience for them. If they are, in fact, sentient beings, some modern methods (such as boiling them alive) are ethically dubious.
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Lobsters are a global delicacy and require meticulous killing and cooking techniques. The most common cooking method is to boil lobsters alive, which is believed to preserve the taste and texture of the meat (Lee and Tang, 2018). Lobster and other shellfish meat naturally contain harmful bacteria. After a lobster dies, these bacteria multiply rapidly and produce toxins that cannot be destroyed by cooking. Thus, a person minimizes the chance of food poisoning by cooking the lobster alive. Vibrio bacteria breed on the bodies of dead lobsters – cooking won’t kill the bacteria once they begin to multiply. Lobsters and crayfish feed Vibrio bacteria, which, after death, begin to multiply uncontrollably and begin to decompose (Butt et al., 2004). Thus, this cooking method preserves freshness and minimizes the time between killing and cooking, reducing the risk of food poisoning (Lee and Tang, 2018). Lobster or crab meat spoils quickly, so it must be cooked immediately after killing or frozen.
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Opponents of such an attitude towards living beings speak primarily of sensitivity (the ability to feel pain consciously) – a scientific definition against nociception. They believe that since crustaceans have a pain reflex, they can also feel pain. Pain reflex – sensory response detected by nociceptors that sense noxious stimuli in the external environment. The signal is transmitted along the nerve pathways to the level of the spinal cord – only the lower motor neuron.
All animals have a basic nociceptive reflex, in which nociceptors detect painful stimuli in the external environment and are transmitted along the nerve pathway to the level of the spinal cord, where a sensory reflex response is initiated. However, the conscious perception of pain associated with sensitivity requires the signal to reach the brain, which is processed and registered as an emotionally painful response (Elwood, 2019). The experience of pain is based on the presence of nociceptors in the animal, an integrative nervous system, learned avoidance, and a reduced response to the administration of analgesics (Elwood, 2009). Lobsters are classified as crustaceans, belonging to the order “Decapoda.” Consequently, these invertebrates lack an anatomical neocortex, where normally, insentient vertebrates, neural signals are consciously perceived (Birch et al., 2021). However, various studies have shown that crustaceans are still capable of experiencing pain, similar to vertebrates.
A study by Elwood found that octopuses, crabs, lobsters, crayfish, squid, cuttlefish, and lobsters are capable of experiencing feelings of pain, fear, and suffering. This conclusion was made after analyzing more than 300 scientific studies on cephalopods and decapods (Elwood, 2012). The complex central nervous system of these animals – one of the main signs that a creature has the ability to sense what is happening – was previously known. However, until now, the state has not controlled how humanely they are treated (Conte et al., 2021). It is primarily because the legal status of crustaceans varies by state in Australia. In New South Wales, Victoria, North Carolina, and the Act, they are protected by animal welfare legislation, and in some of them, it only covers crustaceans intended for human consumption.
Activists say there are already more humane ways to kill people that can be used in the kitchen, such as knocking them unconscious. Many restaurants around the world are also using more humane methods of killing crustaceans. It resulted from their inclusion in animal welfare legislation in countries such as New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, which banned the cooking of live lobsters (Rowe, 2018). Chefs often kill lobsters before they boil them: they cut about 1.5 inches under their head into the lobster shell (Humane Killing and Processing). When a cook cuts a lobster in that spot, it is presumed dead and does not feel any conscious pain. In fact, it is becoming law in many jurisdictions in countries with animal protection law that includes crustaceans.
Discussion
The sensation of pain is an emotional reaction that requires a signal of consciousness to pass to the brain, where it is processed, recorded, and perceived as painful. The problem is that neither lobsters, crayfish, nor some insects have a brain, but only a nervous system. In fact, the reaction to pain is the reaction of the nervous system to stimuli. Scientists believe that lobster convulsions in boiling water are nothing more than a reflex attempt to escape from an unusual environment and not a conscious reaction or a sign of suffering.
Conclusion
The modern debate about how to cook lobster properly has fallen into two main lines. The former believe that the traditional method of cooking crustaceans (dip them alive in boiling water) is the safest for human health. It is due to the fact that crustacean meat quickly deteriorates, and dangerous bacteria begin to develop in it. At the same time, many modern studies suggest that this is inhumane concerning living beings since their reaction indicates that crustaceans have consciousness. They are in favor of including lobsters in the animal welfare bill; as an alternative, they demand a more painless death for them before cooking. However, there are conflicting hypotheses in these studies that deny that lobsters are conscious and can experience fear and pain.
References
“Humane Killing and Processing of Crustaceans for Human Consumption.” RSPCA, n.d. Web.
Birch, Jonathan, Charlotte Burn, Alexandra Schnell, Heather Browning, and Andrew Crump. “Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans.” (2021). Web.
Butt, Adeel A., Kenneth E. Aldridge, and Charles V. Sanders. 2004. “Infections Related to the Ingestion of Seafood Part I: Viral and Bacterial Infections.” The Lancet Infectious Diseases 4 (4): 201-12. Web.
Conte, Francesca, Eva Voslarova, Vladimir Vecerek, Robert William Elwood, Paolo Coluccio, Michela Pugliese, and Annamaria Passantino. “Humane Slaughter of Edible Decapod Crustaceans.”Animals 11, no. 4 (2021): 1089. Web.
Elwood, Robert W. “Discrimination between nociceptive reflexes and more complex responses consistent with pain in crustaceans.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 374, no. 1785 (2019): 20190368.
Elwood, Robert W. “Evidence for pain in decapod crustaceans.” Animal Welfare 21, no. 1 (2012): 23-27. Web.
Elwood, Robert W., Stuart Barr, and Lynsey Patterson. “Pain and stress in crustaceans?.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 118, no. 3-4 (2009): 128-136. Web.
Gillies, Chris L., Ian M. McLeod, Heidi K. Alleway, Peter Cook, Christine Crawford, Colin Creighton, Ben Diggles, et al. “Australian Shellfish Ecosystems: Past Distribution, Current Status and Future Direction.”PLOS ONE 13, no. 2 (2018). Web.
Lee, Nathaniel and Abby Tang. 2018. “The Surprising Reason we Boil Lobsters Alive.” Business Insider, Web.
Rowe, Anthony. “Should Scientific Research Involving Decapod Crustaceans Require Ethical Review?”Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 31, no. 5 (2018): 625–34. Web.