Boiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned as part of a government strategy to improve animal welfare in England.

Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published.

The practice is already illegal in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand. Animal welfare charities say that stunning lobsters with an electric gun or chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling them is more humane.

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[–] 5 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Lobsters have a decentralized nervous system, so stabbing it in the head doesn't really do anything. It's pretty much just something chefs started doing to appear to know more than the home cook. There's no scientific reason for stabbing them first.

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  • [–] 4 points 8 months ago

    This is why the correct method is splitting, where you cut the head in half down the middle and partway into the main body. Cutting the head off still leaves a significant chuck of the "brain" alive and unwell.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (2 children)

    So, how WOULD you kill it without pain?

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  • [–] 10 points 8 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 child)

    Sure. But, like, is this law pointless? Because unless it bans it altogether (and the comment I replied to is correct about the pain) then it sounds like it's pointless.

    People said freezing. But that just sounds like more psuedo science. Is it science based? Or is it just "people say".

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