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You are here: Home / Animals / Why Does Cooking Or Boiling a Lobster Make It Turn Red When Their Blood Is Colorless?

Why Does Cooking Or Boiling a Lobster Make It Turn Red When Their Blood Is Colorless?

March 15, 2020 by Karen Hill

Lobsters have blood that is colorless unless exposed to oxygen, when it develops a bluish tint.

why do lobsters turn red

Lobsters are mostly gray, green, or brown when alive, but never red. Boiling them breaks down the pigments that color their shells.

The most durable heat-resistant pigments are the carotin-based reds, and they are last to break down during boiling.

The same process occurs for most other hard-shelled crustaceans like shrimp, crab, and crawfish.

A common myth is that a lobster screams when boiled when it is actually the whistling sound from steam escaping the shell.

Many animal rights groups and advocates have long argued that lobsters feel pain and suffer when cooked, and this has led to many alternatives such as the Crustastun, which electrocutes lobsters with a 110 V electric shock, killing them in five seconds.

The practice of boiling lobsters is illegal in some countries, such as in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where the fine can be €495 for each offense.

Or go directly to jail and do not pass go.

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Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Long do Lobsters Live for and How Long does it Take for a Lobster to Grow to Full Size?
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