Eating live seafood

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Girl eating oysters, circa 1658 by Jan Steen Jan Steen 008.jpg
Girl eating oysters, circa 1658 by Jan Steen

The practice of eating live seafood, such as fish, crab, oysters, baby shrimp, or baby octopus, is widespread. Oysters are typically eaten live. [1] The view that oysters are acceptable to eat, even by strict ethical criteria, has notably been propounded in the seminal 1975 text Animal Liberation, by philosopher Peter Singer. However, subsequent editions have reversed this position (advocating against eating oysters). Singer has stated that he has "gone back and forth on this over the years", and as of 2010 states that "while you could give them the benefit of the doubt, you could also say that unless some new evidence of a capacity for pain emerges, the doubt is so slight that there is no good reason for avoiding eating sustainably produced oysters". [2]

Contents

Live seafood dishes

LocationNameImageDescriptionVideo
China Drunken shrimp Drunken shrimp alive.jpg Drunken shrimp is a popular dish in parts of China. It is based on fresh-water shrimp that are placed in a strong liquor, baijiu, and then eaten, often while they are alive. Modified recipes are used in different parts of China. For example, the drunken shrimp can be cooked in boiling water instead of serving them while they are still live. In other recipes, the shrimp are boiled first and then marinated in alcohol. [3] Drunken Shrimp on YouTube
Japan Ikizukuri Ikizukuri.jpg Ikizukuri, lit. "prepared alive", also called Ikezukuri is the preparation of sashimi made from live seafood. Fish such as tuna, mackerel, bream and salmon is usually used, but sometimes inkfish like octopus or shellfish like shrimp and lobster are used instead. [4] The practice is controversial, and ikizukuri is outlawed in Australia and Germany. [4]
Odori ebi Pandborealisind.jpg Odori ebi, lit. "dancing shrimp", is a sashimi delicacy in Japan. It includes live baby pink shrimp, usually dunked in Japanese rice wine, wriggling their legs and waving their antenna as they are eaten. The meal is prepared rapidly and quickly served to ensure the shrimp are still alive. Dancing shrimp are also eaten in Thailand, where they are known as Goong Ten, กุ้งเต้น. Eating live "dancing shrimp" in Thailand on YouTube
Korea San-nakji Korean.cuisine-Sannakji.hoe-01.jpg Sannakji is a type of hoe , or raw dish, in Korea. It consists of usually dead but seemingly alive Octopus minor (nakji, sometimes translated as "baby octopus" due to the species' small size), cut into small pieces and immediately served, with a light sesame oil seasoning. The dish is eaten while the pieces are still squirming on the plate. [5] Eating Live Octopus in Korea – Sannakji on YouTube
Taiwan Yin Yang fish Yin Yang fish, or dead-and-alive fish, originated in Taiwan. It is a dish which consists of a deep-fried whole fish (usually carp) that remains alive after cooking. The fish's body is cooked while its head is wrapped in a wet cloth to keep it breathing. The fish is then covered in sauce and served live on a plate. [6] Some chefs say they prepare the fish this way to demonstrate its freshness to the customer. [7] [8] [9] Preparation of this dish is now banned in Taiwan, Australia and Germany. Eating A Deep Fried Fish That's Still AliveHuffington Post
Widespread Live oyster Eating an oyster.jpg Oysters are often eaten live. [10]
Live lobster Lobster 05.jpg Restaurants in New York City serve live lobster, advertising that they allow customers the opportunity to "pick belly sashimi out of its still moving body". [11] I eat a live lobster in Japan on YouTube

Controversy

Octopuses are eaten alive in several countries around the world, including the United States. [12] [13] Animal welfare groups have objected to this practice on the basis that octopuses can experience pain. [14] In support of this, since September 2010, octopuses being used for scientific purposes in the European Union are protected by EU Directive 2010/63/EU "as there is scientific evidence of their ability to experience pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm." [15] In the United Kingdom, this means that octopuses used for scientific purposes must be killed humanely, according to prescribed methods (known as "Schedule 1 methods of euthanasia"). [16]

London resident Louis Cole ran a YouTube channel in which he ate live seafood. [17] The Guardian commented on the ethical issues raised by the behaviour of Coles that: "It seems objectively less cruel to kill a scorpion instantly than to rear chickens in battery cages or pigs in the most miserable pork farms". [17]

Health issues

In India, the government provides support for an annual fish medicine festival in Hyderabad, where asthma patients are given a live sardine to eat which is supposed to cure their asthma. [18]

Improperly handled food, uncooked food, raw fish consumption and water contamination can transmit parasitic infections. Parasitic infections are common worldwide, although they are major health concerns in tropical countries. [19]

Infection by the fish tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum is seen in countries where people eat raw or undercooked fish. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octopus</span> Soft-bodied eight-limbed order of molluscs

An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the center point of the eight limbs. The soft body can radically alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all invertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seafood</span> Food from the sea

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sashimi</span> Japanese dish of raw fish

Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shellfish</span> Culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates

Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some are found in freshwater. In addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Shellfish are among the most common food allergens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clam</span> Common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs

Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyster</span> Variety of families of Mollusc

Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.

<i>Diphyllobothrium</i> Genus of flatworms

Diphyllobothrium is a genus of tapeworms which can cause diphyllobothriasis in humans through consumption of raw or undercooked fish. The principal species causing diphyllobothriasis is D. latum, known as the broad or fish tapeworm, or broad fish tapeworm. D. latum is a pseudophyllid cestode that infects fish and mammals. D. latum is native to Scandinavia, western Russia, and the Baltics, though it is now also present in North America, especially the Pacific Northwest. In Far East Russia, D. klebanovskii, having Pacific salmon as its second intermediate host, was identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish as food</span> Fish eaten by humans

Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients throughout human history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eucestoda</span> Subclass of flatworms

Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda. Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Cestodaria. All tapeworms are endoparasites of vertebrates, living in the digestive tract or related ducts. Examples are the pork tapeworm with a human definitive host, and pigs as the secondary host, and Moniezia expansa, the definitive hosts of which are ruminants.

<i>Ikizukuri</i> Preparing sashimi from live seafood

Ikizukuri (生き作り), also known as ikezukuri (活け造り), is the preparing of sashimi from live seafood. In this Japanese culinary technique, the most popular sea animal used is fish, but octopus, shrimp, and lobster may also be used. The practice is controversial owing to concerns about the animal's suffering, as it is still alive when served.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve with dishes of fish and other seafood.

Diphyllobothriasis is the infection caused by tapeworms of the genus Diphyllobothrium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cestoda</span> Class of flatworms

Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of many similar units known as proglottids—essentially packages of eggs which are regularly shed into the environment to infect other organisms. Species of the other subclass, Cestodaria, are mainly fish infecting parasites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish disease and parasites</span> Disease that affects fish

Like humans and other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. Fish defences against disease are specific and non-specific. Non-specific defences include skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the epidermis that traps microorganisms and inhibits their growth. If pathogens breach these defences, fish can develop inflammatory responses that increase the flow of blood to infected areas and deliver white blood cells that attempt to destroy the pathogens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pescetarianism</span> Dietary practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet

Pescetarianism is the practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet. Pescetarians may or may not consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Approximately 3% of adults worldwide are pescetarian, according to 2017–2018 research conducted by data and analytics companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sucker (zoology)</span> Specialised attachment organ of an animal

A sucker in zoology is a specialised attachment organ of an animal. It acts as an adhesion device in parasitic worms, several flatworms, cephalopods, certain fishes, amphibians, and bats. It is a muscular structure for suction on a host or substrate. In parasitic annelids, flatworms and roundworms, suckers are the organs of attachment to the host tissues. In tapeworms and flukes, they are a parasitic adaptation for attachment on the internal tissues of the host, such as intestines and blood vessels. In roundworms and flatworms they serve as attachment between individuals particularly during mating. In annelids, a sucker can be both a functional mouth and a locomotory organ. The structure and number of suckers are often used as basic taxonomic diagnosis between different species, since they are unique in each species. In tapeworms there are two distinct classes of suckers, namely "bothridia" for true suckers, and "bothria" for false suckers. In digeneal flukes there are usually an oral sucker at the mouth and a ventral sucker posterior to the mouth. Roundworms have their sucker just in front of the anus; hence it is often called a pre-anal sucker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eating live animals</span> Practice of eating animals that are still alive

Eating live animals is the practice of humans eating animals that are still alive. It is a traditional practice in many East Asian food cultures. Animals may also be eaten alive for shock value. Eating live animals, or parts of live animals, may be unlawful in certain jurisdictions under animal cruelty laws. Religious prohibitions on the eating of live animals by humans are also present in various world religions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octopus as food</span> Octopus in cuisines worldwide

People of some cultures eat octopus. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species and/or geography.

References

  1. Kurlansky, Mark (2009) The Big Oyster: A Molluscular History of New York Random House. ISBN   9781409077930.
  2. Cox, Christopher (April 7, 2010). "Consider the Oyster: Why even strict vegans should feel comfortable eating oysters by the boatload". Slate . Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  3. 醉蝦 Archived August 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 "The Times & The Sunday Times". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. South Korean fishermen, health officials tangle over octopus Archived 2013-03-19 at the Wayback Machine Loa Angeles Times, 29 October 2010.
  6. "Chinese diners eat live fish in YouTube video". Telegraph.co.uk. 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  7. Nguyen, ThienVinh (18 March 2010). "Eating A Deep Fried Fish That's Still Alive (VIDEO)". Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2018 via Huff Post.
  8. Leach, Ben (18 November 2009). "Chinese diners eat live fish in YouTube video". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018.
  9. http://www.islandcrisis.net/2009/11/fried-living-fish/ Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine (defunct 28 June 2015)
  10. Kurlansky, Mark (2009) The Big Oyster: A Molluscular History of New York Archived 2015-05-19 at the Wayback Machine Random House. ISBN   9781409077930.
  11. Corn, L. (2011). "Eating live lobsters: Painful or delicious?". Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  12. Eriksen, L. (November 10, 2010). "Live and let dine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  13. Killingsworth, S. (October 3, 2014). "Why not eat octopus?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  14. Ferrier, M. (May 30, 2010). "Macho foodies in New York develop a taste for notoriety". Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  15. "Animals used for scientific purposes". European Commission. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  16. "The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations 2012". Archived from the original on February 11, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  17. 1 2 The man who eats live animals Archived 2014-01-06 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian, 17 April 2012.
  18. Indians eat live sardines to cure asthma Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine The Telegraph, 20 May 2012.
  19. "CDC - Parasites - Parasitic Transmission". www.cdc.gov. 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  20. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus, "Fish Tapeworm," "Fish tapeworm infection: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2012-09-18..