"crustacean" news and stories

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.

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Italy has some of the toughest animal protection laws in the world. Turin, the site of this year's winter Olympic games, actually has a law that imposes a fine if you fail to walk your dog three times a day. Given this, it's not all that surprising to hear that they are regarding lobsters with the same feelings most reserve for cats and dogs.

A restaurant in Vicenza, Italy, was fined $855 for attempting to subject a lobster to a prolonged death, though the restaurant owners had no direct intention of killing the creature. They were displaying the live lobster on ice as a promotion for their seafood business. The case was first brought to the Italian courts in 2002 when a former environmental activist took his two small children to the restaurant, where they were "shocked by the display."

Lobsters can live out of water for at least 24 hours and up to several days. They have a specialized gill that allows them to utilize oxygen from the air and, as the restaurant would have returned the lobster to its tank at the end of the day, the lobster would most likely have been unharmed by the ordeal.

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Add another one to our list of frivolous food lawsuits. In 2001, a New York man, Jerry Colaitis, injured his neck while ducking a flying shrimp in a Benihana Japanese restaurant. The injury, according to his widow, caused him to wrench his neck such that he needed surgery. Complications arising from the surgery led to infection and the man's death. His widow attempted to sue Benihana for $10 million dollars. The restaurant's position was that the man was trying to catch a shrimp in his mouth, as the chefs at Benihana restaurants are known for their flamboyant knife and spatula work, including tossing food into the air. It is likely that the man knew the nature of the restaurant when he opted to visit it and, said the company's attorney, it is unlikely that a chef who works for tips would continue to toss food at a customer if asked to stop. This week, a jury ruled that the restaurant was not liable for the death of Jerry Colaitis.