Is it okay to eat a freshly dead crab? What will happen if you eat a freshly dead crab?

We all know that crabs are a popular delicacy in autumn. There are many ways to cook them, such as steaming, braising, and boiling. They all taste very good and are loved by people. Crabs are usually eaten fresh, so can crabs that have just died be eaten? Let's take a closer look!

Is it okay to eat a dead crab?

Dead crabs cannot be eaten, they will harm our health.

Because after a crab dies, its body will quickly secrete a toxic substance called "histamine", and as the time since the crab's death increases, the amount of this substance will increase.

What's worse is that histamine cannot be decomposed at high temperatures. If you eat dead crabs, this toxic substance will enter the human body, damage the health of the liver and kidneys, and may cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and other uncomfortable symptoms.

Whether a food is edible or not mainly refers to the risk of eating it and the trade-offs in our values. Although eating dead hairy crabs may not make you sick, objective facts have proven that eating hairy crabs that died before cooking is too risky. Whether a crab worth a few dozen yuan is worth the risk of vomiting and diarrhea or worse is a personal value trade-off. I believe that most people will still choose health as more important. After all, a trip to the hospital for emergency treatment may be enough to buy a lot of fresh hairy crabs.

What happens to a freshly dead crab?

There are two main risks in eating dead crabs:

① Because of the nutrients and living environment of crabs, once they are lacking in vitality or die, they will breed a large number of bacteria, and the bacteria in crabs multiply very quickly;

② When the crab is dying, histamine will begin to be produced in the body, which can easily lead to food poisoning if eaten. Therefore, the two main risks of eating crabs already exist when they are dying (not fresh enough), but the longer they have been dead, the more serious the problem will be. This is why it is best to eat hairy crabs alive and well, not only because they taste the best, but also because they are safer to eat when they are alive and well!

Are all dead crabs inedible?

Not all dead crabs are inedible. If the crabs were frozen while still alive, they can still be eaten after thawing.

Just like when we buy swimming crabs, blue crabs and other sea crabs, in many cases, what we buy are frozen crabs, which are edible.

However, if you are eating river crabs such as hairy crabs, you must eat them alive. Moreover, the fresher and more vibrant the hairy crabs are, the more delicious they taste.