Lobsters mustn’t be kept in ice, a court says

FLORENCE, ITALY – Lobsters mustn’t be kept in ice because they suffer too much, Italy’s court said. But it does not violate any law put the crustaceans to boil them alive.

The Italian Cassation Court upheld an animal rights group’s complaint against a restaurateur at Campi Bisenzio near Florence who kept lobsters packed in ice with their claws tied.

The ruling, which sets a precedent, found that it was not common practice to store the animals like this, while it was acceptable behaviour to boil them alive.
The court ordered damages paid to the rights group, LAV, the anti-vivisection league.

Lobster is used in soup, bisque, lobster rolls, and cappon magro. Lobster meat may be dipped in clarified butter, resulting in a heightened flavour.

Cooks boil or steam live lobsters. When a lobster is cooked, its shell’s colour changes from blue to orange because the heat from cooking breaks down a protein called crustacyanin, which suppresses the orange hue of the chemical astaxanthin, which is also found in the shell.

According to the United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the mean level of mercury in American lobster between 2005 and 2007 was 0.107 parts per million.