Crabs can feel pain when boiled for food preparation: study

That’s just the hoof!

According to a new study, crabs can feel pain when boiled alive during conventional food preparation – just like other shellfish like lobsters.

Zoologists from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg performed brain scans on crabs to see how their nervous systems would react to painful stimuli, according to a summary of the study.

Testing on paralyzed crabs revealed that the crustacean’s nociceptors detect noxious stimuli and send signals to the central nervous system — which is ultimately the sensation of pain, the study found.

The study used electrophysiological equipment to detect the innate body response of shore crabs while challenging them with two types of noxious stimuli, namely, mechanical/chemical and acetic.

The researchers found that the shore crabs displayed responses in their central nervous system that indicated a standard pain response.

Every part of the shore crab’s body responded to every painful stimulus, except for its antennae, which showed responses only to chemical stimuli.

These principles of pain apply not only to shore crabs, but also to shellfish such as shrimps, prawns and lobsters.

In light of these discoveries, scientists are calling for more humane culinary ways to prepare shellfish, which are usually boiled alive.

“We believe that boiling live crustaceans should be banned and cooking techniques such as electro-drying should be implemented the moment the crustaceans are caught,” Eleftherios Kasiouras, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Gothenburg, told the Daily Mail.

“There is more and more evidence emerging, including our own research, that decapods experience pain, so we should treat them as we would other animals,” explained Kasiouras.

Crabs are one of the only edible creatures not protected by animal welfare laws, meaning it is legal to harvest and kill crabs.

Animal welfare organization Crustacean Compassion said there are several unethical ways to kill decapods, including boiling, dismemberment, electrocution, dismemberment, CO2 gas, freshwater drowning and dry and wet chilling.