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The Pleasure and Pain of Lobster Meat

Written By: Alexandra Perez-Urbina on Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Lobster meat is delicious and succulent...just watch out for tomalley.

Lobster meat... it is delicate, juicy, and highly addicting. Their meat is sweet in flavor and it blends gracefully with almost every single kind of cuisine and flavor on this planet...

American or Maine Lobsters have edible meat in both their tail and claws, and they are available alive and whole, as meat (tail and/or claw), or frozen. Live lobsters are purchased by weight (FYI, a lobster weighing a pound or less is called a "chicken"). Lobsters have two claws (a crusher and a ripper), and they are usually harvested at depths of 15 to 1,000 feet. A lobster with one claw is called a "cull," and if it is missing both claws, it's called a "bullet."

A lobster's stomach is not eaten, but traditionally the tomalley (the liver and pancreas) and coral (the roe) are used in sauces or spreads as they are very flavorful. Unfortunately, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) released an advisory on consuming the tomalley of the American or Maine Lobster on July 28, 2008. The FDA warned consumers to avoid eating the tomalley of these lobsters, regardless of where they were harvested, due to "potential contamination with dangerous levels of the toxins that cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)." The advisory ONLY applies to the tomalley, which filters toxins, not to lobster meat. The active toxin in PSP is called "saxitoxin" and it is incurred that the toxin is found toxic marine algae in colder waters.

While food poisoning takes a few hours for it to be processed by the human body, a reaction to a toxin or histamine is almost immediate. Symptoms usually occur within two hours and it is extremely important that one receive medical attention quickly. Saxitoxin, as most other toxins in fish and shellfish, cannot be eliminated by freezing or cooking. The most common symptoms of PSP are tingling and numbness of the mouth, face, neck, arms and legs; dizziness, headache; muscle weakness; nausea; vomiting; and diarrhea. In extreme cases where too much toxin was ingested or when someone was not treated, the above symptoms could lead to respiratory failure and death due to paralysis.

The tomalley doesn't normally contain such high levels of the toxin, and it is believed that the high levels of the PSP toxin correlate to the red tide episode currently affecting the Atlantic coast on the northeastern portion of North America. Shellfish (clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops) may also become contaminated with PSP. Interestingly, my ServSafe Sanitation textbook mentions that PSP comes from shellfish, but fails to mention the tomalley. In any case, it is important to purchase all fish, crustacean, and shellfish from approved and reputable suppliers, and as a consumer, YOU HAVE A RIGHT to ask a restaurant or a supplier where the fish, crustacean, or shellfish they use/sell comes from.

Putting aside the scary tomalley talk, lobster meat is safe to eat, and if my pockets allow, I don't plan on stopping my consumption of the crustacean any time soon, for how could anyone resist lobster dumplings, or lobster raviolis in a sherry cream sauce, or lobster bisque, or lobster risotto, or lobster rolls, or lobster tail with butter and lemon... or the ever magical lobster and kielbasa! The combinations are endless, for lobster goes with almost anything that can be found in a kitchen! Long live the mighty lobster!

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