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However, whether eating balut is cruel or not is not so simple. In the Philippines, people consider it a delicacy and its preparation method is standard for a lot of egg-based dishes. Naturally, no animal should have to suffer. And Balut is similar to any other egg--that is, as long as it has not yet been hatched.
However, the fact that a duck embryo takes on 'nearly adult' form before being boiled may strike some animal lovers as particularly cruel. There's a fine line, it all depends on the perspective.
Balut, the infamous Southeast Asian delicacy, often sparks a plethora of conversations - are we crossing a moral line by consuming it, or is it simply a cultural practice, much like any other food habit around the world? As a conscious consumer, and someone who openly advocates for animal rights, the idea of balut does make me twinge with uncertainty.
It's an unhatched duck egg, nearing the end of incubation, boiled alive before it's eaten. Does it experience pain during this process? Possibly. Even though it's consumed in countries beyond the Philippines, such as Vietnam and Cambodia, the reality is, it's no easy question to answer. In equal parts, it brings up questions about cultural sovereignty and humanity.
Balut, that's a controversial subject. Popular mainly in the Philippines, this street food is a fertilized duck egg, which is boiled and eaten in the shell. Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of eating an almost developed duck embryo. The question of cruelty comes into play because the egg is boiled just days before the duck would have hatched.
On one hand, it's a traditional food source, an intrinsic part of Filipino culture. On the other hand, some people consider it cruel because the embryo is still alive when it is cooked. It’s a tricky question of cultural relativism: what might seem cruel or unusual to one group might be normal and acceptable to another.