Whole Foods markets will no longer sell live lobsters and soft-shelled crabs on the grounds that it is an inhumane practice. The company spent months studying the conditions that lobsters experienced en route from the sea to the shopper. They tried to make the lobsters as comfortable as possible, but ultimately concluded that "they could not ensure the creatures [were] treated with respect and compassion."
Whole Foods pointed to a European study that said lobsters can feel pain like humans and animals, but the scientific community is divided over to what degree a lobster's fairly primitive nervous systems actually feel.
The lobster industry isn't concerned with this decision. 25% of all lobsters are sold live and they feel strongly that consumers who want live lobsters will still seek them out.
PETA and other animal rights groups are thrilled with the decision, but seem to have missed the fact that the market will still carry frozen raw and cooked lobster products. The lobsters are still being killed, but they won't be boiled by Whole Foods shoppers.














