If you’re a lover of crab sticks, now might be the time to look away because they might be about to be completely ruined for you.
How much do any of us really know about how our food is made? It often seems that the less we know about what we eat, the better.
Ignorance can often be bliss but that’s not on the agenda today – because we are going to dive into the world of how crab sticks are made, and it’s probably not what you expect.
The seafood treat is widely loved but it often comes as a surprise to those chowing down on them that they don’t actually include crab – so many have been rebranded as seafood sticks instead.
A video was uploaded to YouTube by Food Kingdom and it shows exactly how the seafood treats are created. And, well, it’s all a bit… grey.
The process starts with frozen fish meat, largely Alaskan pollock but often includes other ingredients such as hake and crab flavoring.
The meat is put into a processor which mixes it together with ingredients like potato starch, egg white, and other flavorings like salt and sugar.
As everything gets clumped together, it creates a sort of grey sludge that if we’re truthful, doesn’t look remotely appetizing.
The grey sludgy foodstuff is then put into a machine that changes its shape into one strip that sort of resembles a fishy candy cane.
The sticks are then cut and covered in an orange casing to create the crab sticks that we are all familiar with – while the rest of the produce is sold off as a substitute for crab meat.
Doesn’t exactly whet the appetite does it?
If you’re currently repulsed, then fear not because you aren’t alone as others have sworn that they will never eat crab sticks again.
One person commented: “Thanks for sharing! Although you didn’t show where the red coloring came from! I will never purchase this ever again! Thank you for opening my eyes!”
A second added: “I always thought this stuff was disgusting, now I KNOW it is,” while a third said: “[Oh my god], this looks so disgusting, I’ll never have the courage to eat them again.”
Now, you probably realized that the snack doesn’t actually contain any crab – and is simply shaped and colored to imitate crabmeat. That why in the UK, they are known simply as seafood sticks (or crab imitation sticks).
What are your thoughts? Will you be chowing down on crab sticks anytime soon?