A Connecticut company called Trufresh says it has developed a technique it says allows it to quick-freeze lobsters, then bring them back to life when defrosted. The product would supposedly be available commercially for restaurants and home use to provide “fresh” lobsters.
According to an Associated Press story, “the lobster’s metabolism is slowed in below-freezing sea water and then it’s immersed in the minus-40 degree brine.” The company’s chairman says, “the lobster freezes so quickly that damage to muscle tissue cells from the formation of ice crystals is minimized.”
The lobsters are then thawed in 28-degree sea water. AP reports that a marketing video from the company shows the lobsters “freely wriggling around after about two and a half hours.”
Not everyone is excited about the idea, of course. A representative for a lobsterman’s association noted, “I’ve never heard of it and I don’t know if I believe it. It might be a robo-lobster.”