[extropy-chat] frozen lobsters thaw to lob another day

[Spike]

Is this fer real?  spike

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/03/16/frozen.lobster.ap/index.html

Company: Frozen lobsters come back to life

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Posted: 9:53 AM EST (1453 GMT)


BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A company says its freezing technique
allows some lobsters to come back to life when thawed -- just in time to
become dinner.

Trufresh LLC, of Suffield, Connecticut, discovered that the method it
has used for years on salmon also revived some lobsters after their
subzero sojourns, potentially resulting in fresher-than-frozen
crustaceans.

The company is looking for partners to begin selling the lobsters
commercially.

Company chairman Barnet L. Liberman acknowledged only about 12 of
roughly 200 healthy lobsters survived the freezing, which involves
immersing the lobster in a brine 40 below zero.

In addition, the company hasn't researched how long a frozen lobster can
survive -- overnight is the longest period so far.

Liberman emphasized the company's goal isn't to provide customers with
lobsters that always come back to life. He just wants to supply tasty
lobsters.

Still, Trufresh hasn't hesitated to tout the lobsters' restorative
qualities, saying it plans to ship the lobsters with rubber bands on the
claws, as a consumer protection measure.

"I wouldn't remove the rubber bands," Liberman said. "It's not worth the
risk."

Robert Bayer of the University of Maine's Lobster Institute said he was
intrigued about the Trufresh process, but dubious. "I guess I am
skeptical about a lobster being brought back to life," Bayer said.