For decades we have been told that seafood does not feel pain when boiled. We were seriously wrong

An action that can be quite common in the world of gastronomy and cooking in general is that of literally boil the lobsters and the crabs while they are alive. Something that was quite accepted, since it was thought that these animals were not aware that they were being boiled and did not even feel pain. But this is changing radically, although it does not transfer to kitchens.

What we knew. This idea that the animals did not suffer any type of pain is something that could be doubted (a lot), since when you put them in a pot of boiling water they begin to have great shakes. But this is something that was pointed out as a mere reflex, but that did not have any type of awareness of the pain.

A new study. A team from the University of Gothenburg has pointed out that this is not the caseand they have done so by focusing on Norwegian crayfish or lobsters. And to demonstrate that this is so, they have simply given him analgesics that humans take, such as aspirin (although it is no longer as prevalent due to its analgesia) and even local anesthetics such as lidocaine that is used in humans, for example, when they are going to give stitches to a wound.

In this way, once the lobsters were anesthetized, they were placed in boiling water again and their movements, which were supposedly a reflex, were seen to be drastically reduced.

What does it mean? Here logic tells us that if the animal’s behavior were a simple reaction due to the stimulation of a nerve, an analgesic should not affect it and would have to be generated in the same way. But the fact that drugs that block our own pain also work in crayfish suggests that there is more than a simple reflection when it comes to putting them in the boiling water, but they are really suffering.

The ethical problem. The fact that it was thought that a crustacean with these characteristics could not be aware of pain was based on the fact that they have a very simple nervous system, so boiling them alive had no influence on animal well-being. But now researchers call for reflection and reopen the debate about whether we really should continue recommending this type of practices within the culinary world.

This is not the first time this has been seen, since other studies analyzed the crabs through electric shocks given to them when they passed through a specific area. In this way, the crabs learned that they should not go through the area that gave them an electric shock, demonstrating that they did have awareness of this unpleasant experience and also memory. Now, with evidence of response to painkillers, the lobster’s “insensitivity” argument appears to have its days numbered.

The legislation. Today, in many countries it is not considered that these practices are prohibited, as it is punishable, for example, to physically harm a dog or a cat. But the truth is that in some countries they are trying to adapt to the new reality, such as the United Kingdom, which recognizes lobsters, crabs and octopuses as sentient beings.

Besides, in New Zealand This includes a requirement that animals going through the pot be declared desensitized through techniques such as extreme cooling or electrical stunning, to prevent them from being alive and conscious before being cooked. But the problem is that in much of the world it is still completely legal to cook them alive.

Images | Monika Borys

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