126 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



Live lobsters were also immersed in tanks filled with a 

 solution of anti-biotic in the hope that it would be absorbed 

 through the lobster's shell, or its mouth. They were similarly 

 killed by steam. 



Untreated control lobsters were also killed, and both 

 kinds stored on ice. There was no appreciable difference in 

 keeping qualities between the two kinds. It appeared as 

 though the anti-biotic had not penetrated. 



Aureomycin has yet to be approved for lobsters by the 

 Food and Drug Administration. It has been approved for 

 chickens, and it now seems probable that it will be approved 

 for all creatures which are to be cooked, as cooking removes 

 even traces of the anti-biotic. 



Freeze Drying. In Time of May 20, 1957, appeared an 

 article on a new method of preserving food. 2 



Dehydrated foods, never much admired, may be 

 headed for kitchen fame. This week Dr. A. Copson of 

 Raytheon Manufacturing Co. showed dried shrimp, lob- 

 ster tails, strawberries, etc., that actually taste fresher 

 than many fresh ones. 



A Raytheon dried shrimp is no shriveled, leathery 

 remnant. It is nearly as big as a fresh peeled shrimp 

 and made of a strange, brittle material with the con- 

 sistency of popcorn or puffed cereal. Taken out of an 

 airtight plastic envelope, it smells like raw shrimp, and 

 its color is about the same. When one of these brittle 

 ghosts is dropped into tepid water, it softens quickly 

 and swells a little. After half an hour of soaking and two 

 minutes in boiling water, the shrimp is firm, sweet and 

 tastes like a shrimp that has been carefully preserved 

 by freezing. 



Dr. Copson explained that it is all done by freeze- 

 drying. When a material that contains water is frozen 

 and placed in a vacuum chamber, the ice crystals in it 

 sublime, i.e., turn directly into water vapor without 

 melting to water. Pharmaceutical manufacturers use 



2 Reprinted through courtesy of Time ( (c) Time, Inc., 1957) 



