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Can you tell me why you should never eat shrimp again? I was on the receiving end of a massive
diatribe that failed to give me a good reason.
Shrimp is neither kosher nor halal, though Christians don't have that problem. They just
risk other problems.
Why would eating shrimp be bad for you? They are low in fat and calories relative to other
meats.
Shrimp are filter feeders, sifting out debris and food from the water. If there is toxic
algae in the water, you'll be eating toxic shrimp.
Shrimp caught for food isn’t toxic.
It depends on where you get them. And shrimp are a major source of food poisoning, especially
because they are often stored and served chilled.
The cold temperatures inhibit bacterial growth.
Being in the fridge and then sitting in a bowl of ice doesn't prevent mold or bacteria
from growing. You think twice about room temperature cold cuts but not room temperature shrimp
cocktail.
Shrimp are cooked.
Some shrimp, like those sitting in decorative party trays you pick up at the store, are
cooked along with being shelled and packaged. Shrimp from the butcher may have only been
flash frozen.
Then I'll cook it.
Most people don't know how to properly cook shrimp, so they don't do it long enough for
hot enough.
OK, so shrimp can give me food poisoning. So can last week's meatloaf that's been sitting
in the fridge.
Shrimp farms tend to be built in former mangrove forests along the Pacific. We end up denuding
coastal marshlands to grow the shrimp for your fancy cocktail.
I hadn't heard of that, though I know about over-fishing. Fish farming and shrimp farming
should lessen the stress on wild stocks.
They aren't farming the food for the shrimp. Fisherman worsen overfishing to get the food
for the shrimp farms, but people don't care because it isn't as visible as OMG where are
all the cod.
That might actually be a valid reason not to eat shrimp again.
You wouldn't be saving the Earth, but saving the oceans is a good, close second.