Foodservice equipment manufacturer Mitchell & Cooper has welcomed the government’s latest Animal Welfare Strategy which legislates against the practice of boiling lobsters and crabs alive.
The announcement by Defra, made just before Christmas, saw the government agree that this “is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans.
Mitchell & Cooper has campaigned alongside organisations such as Crustacean Compassion, The Shellfish Association of Great Britain and Chefs forum as well as supermarkets and high profile chefs to validate electrical stunning as a more humane, repeatable, and operationally robust method for crustacean dispatch.
The issue was first raised by Mitchell & Cooper seven years ago when it committed to pioneering an alternative option that renders lobsters and crabs insensible in under 0.5 seconds and dispatches them in under 10 seconds.
Crustastun from Bonzer targets the neural centres of lobster, crabs and crayfish to eliminate suffering and provide a “humane, consistent and reliable” alternative to both boiling and skill-dependent methods like splitventing. As a result, it has already been adopted by restaurants, hotels, seafood processors, fishmongers, retailers and Michelin kitchens around the world.
Kat Cooper, project director at Mitchell & Cooper, adds: “The Bonzer Crustastun isn’t just compassionate, it also enhances food quality, improves texture and flavour, and extends shelf life by killing harmful bacteria, allowing safe storage for up to 48 hours. Its user-friendly design requires no specialist training and fits neatly into busy kitchens, providing staff with a fast, efficient, and ethical method for dispatching crustaceans.”
Commenting on the government ban, Crustacean Compassion CEO Dr Ben Sturgeon, said: “We wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s intentions to ban the live boiling of conscious crustaceans. When live, conscious animals are placed into boiling water, they endure several minutes of excruciating pain. This is torture and completely avoidable. Humane alternatives, like electrical stunning, are readily available and ensure these animals are killed swiftly and without unnecessary suffering.”
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