4 Cruelest Foods We Enjoy Eating

October 8, 2012 by

When you trace the origins of each ingredient of your food, some uncomfortable truths emerge. Join us as we check in with the 4 Cruelest Foods You Eat.

1. Lobster

These spiny guys can live as old as we do, but thanks to our appetite for lobster rolls, they usually don’t. A recent study in the journal Animal Behavior showed that, contrary to previous thinking, lobsters and crab can feel pain and exhibit signs of stress. Some high-end restaurants even offer live lobster sashimi, where you choose your lobster from a tank and it appears on your plate in seconds, slit down the middle and squirming.

2. Shark-fin soup

This soup is made with fins that are sliced off sharks in open waters. The fish are then tossed back into the water, where they can drown or bleed to death. More status symbol than tasty (or nutritious), shark-fin soup is a popular gourmet treat in Asia and is abundant in restaurants across the United States, too.


3. Foie gras

Foie gras, which means “fatty liver” in French, is a silky-smooth delicacy from goose or duck that’s often served in elegant, high-end restaurants. Workers restrain the birds and insert a long metal tube down its throat, through which they pump pounds of corn several times a day. After about a month of force-feeding, they’re slaughtered, and their livers become your dinner.

4. Balut

Balut is a soft-boiled duck egg, where the embryo is almost fully formed–feathers, bones, and all. The egg is cracked open, the soupy liquid drunk, and the fetus dug out to eat. It’s popular in the Philippines, Laos, and other Southeast Asian countries.

Do you like eating any of these delicacies? Would you consider going vegetarian? Share your thoughts on these food facts!

Source: Yahoo News

Image: Mem Rise

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Brit Catches Fish that Preys on Men’s Testicles

December 29, 2011 by

A British angler told today how he snared a predator fish that kills men by biting off their testicles.

Fearless Jeremy Wade, 53, spent weeks hunting for the fish in remote Papua New Guinea after locals reported a mysterious beast that was castrating young fishermen. He finally found the Pacu fish — known locally as the “Ball Cutter” — and managed to catch one in his small wooden fishing boat. Jeremy wrestled the 40lb monster on to the floor and opened its jaws with his hands to discover human-style teeth. The Pacu fish uses them to tear off the testicles of unwitting anglers, leaving them to bleed to death.

Jeremy, from Bath, Somerset, told how he reeled in the creature as part of his new series of River Monsters — to be screened on ITV next week. He said, ”We put a line into the water and waited for it to bite. When I reeled it in, it had this mouth which was surprisingly human-like, it is almost like they have teeth specially made for crushing. They are like human molars and the fish have powerful jaw muscles. They are very deep bodied and solid like a carp, with strong muscles.”

Pacu fish are usually found in the Amazon, where they need their teeth to crack into the tough cases of nuts and seeds. The previously vegetarian fish were introduced to Papua New Guinea 15 years ago to increase stocks.

River Monsters Series Three will begin on ITV1 at 7.30pm on January 3. The fourth series is currently in production.

 

Source and Image: The Sun

 

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