‘Horrible person': Crab cooking clip sparks outrage

News.com.au

10-05-2025

A food and drink content creator has been branded 'psychopathic' after filming herself using an air fryer to cook live crabs.
The footage shows the Florida woman, named Chels, seasoning live blue crabs before putting them in the appliance.
As she sprinkles the crabs with seasoning she tells viewers: 'Don't knock it till you try it.'
She then places the animals in the cramped air fryer before blasting the heat up to 200C.
'It was kind of sad watching them … you know,' she says as the crabs twitch and wriggle.
After 15 minutes, the animals can be seen letting out one last twitch.
'These crabs came out so good and juicy. I was not expecting them to come out this good,' she raves.
The clip has been viewed over four million times, but many were left distressed over the 'cruel' treatment of the animals.
'Imagine being this much of a horrible person,' said one comment with more than 14,000 likes.
'Slow cooking an animal alive is a whole new level of animal torture,' said another.
'They're literally crying. What is wrong with people?,' echoed a third.
Another viewer even threatened to call the police.
Others were unfazed by the clip, claiming outraged viewers were 'too woke'.
'Why is everyone crying about the crabs? they're literally just crabs,' said one amused viewer, while some pointed out that boiling crabs live was a common cooking method.
'Everyone needs to relax,' stressed another.
A 2024 study uncovered that crabs feel pain, prompting researchers to call for more humane treatment of shellfish.
Boiling crabs and lobsters alive has long been a common method used in the kitchens – but researchers at the University of Gothenburg say that it's time for a change.
'If they're suffering, we need to find ways to minimise their pain,' they said.
PhD candidate Eleftherios Kasiouras found painful stimuli are sent to and processed by a crab's brain, which he said was 'just more proof' the animal can feel pain, Sky News reported.
The study is the first research to show the creatures have a nervous system that can respond to harmful stimuli.
In Australia, the protection of shellfish under animal welfare laws is minimal.
Most states and territories exclude crustaceans from their definitions of 'animals' under animal welfare legislation.
In an Animal Protection Bill Inquiry the RSPCA stated, 'The definition of animal is too narrow and excludes a large number of animals from the protective reach of the statute including fish and crustaceans.'
'There is now a substantial body of scientific evidence demonstrating that these species are sentient and capable of experiencing pain and suffering. They should be included within the definition of 'animal' without restriction,' it said.