‘Most Humane’ Cooking Method

Madeline Brink (“Lobsters’ Pain,” Oct. 22) was concerned about the humane treatment (or lack thereof) of lobsters during boiling.

I am a zoology professor at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, and I would like to correct a few statements. First, lobsters cannot scream when immersed in boiling water because lobsters have no structures to make such sounds.

My postdoctoral studies were on crayfish, freshwater relatives of lobsters, and I know of no published studies which state that any crustacean could live up to 12 minutes in boiling water. When any animal is put in boiling water, its proteins are inactivated, and life ceases very quickly. The responses seen in a lobster when initially put in the water are simple responses; the primitive brain is responding in a reflexive fashion to the unfavorable temperature, much like the “knee-jerk” reflex in humans.

Boiling a lobster is absolutely the most humane method. If you first freeze the lobster, it will take longer to die. If an inexperienced cook tries to remove the brain before cooking, even more trauma would be inflicted.

Frankly, as a concerned biologist and environmentalist, I believe that more time, concern and effort should be focused on the treatment of vertebrate animals we raise or catch for food (fish, poultry, beef, pigs, etc.). These animals do have brains that are more advanced than invertebrate animals and certainly are more capable of interpreting pain and trauma during their short lives.

Jane Horlings

CAPISTRANO BEACH