The practice of boiling lobsters alive has been challenged by growing evidence that crustaceans can experience pain, leading several countries to ban the practice and require humane killing before cooking.
The precautionary principle requires that, given genuine scientific uncertainty about lobster sentience, practices that may cause intense suffering should be avoided when alternatives exist. Clove oil immersion, electrical stunning, and rapid mechanical destruction of the brain are all available alternatives to live boiling that take seconds rather than minutes.