After witnessing the crabsticks’ preparation, some were appalled, with some claiming they would never eat crabsticks again.
We have sheltered lives in which we can contentedly remain ignorant of the processes involved in producing many of our favourite meals. There is no turning back once you learn how foods like sausages and chicken nuggets are manufactured, and you will never quite view them the same way again.
So stop reading now if you don’t want your opinion on crabsticks to change.
Through the looking glass, people can now view how a well-known culinary item is prepared thanks to a YouTube video.
The method begins with some frozen fish, which seems to be a very standard beginning.
Here’s the first curveball though – it’s not crab meat, but actually largely made up of Alaskan pollock.
This is then added to a large mixer and blended with ingredients like wheat and egg whites.
All of this comes together to form a creepy grey paste that looks more like something you could use to remodel your bathroom than anything you would cheerfully eat.
From here, things don’t get any better.
The putty-like material is fed into a device that produces a single, long strip of solid fish material. This strip is then woven with other solid fish strips to imitate the texture of crab or lobster meat.
Some of the end product is then sold off as surimi or substitute crab meat, whilst the rest is given an orange coating and sold as crabsticks.
So, yes – the crabsticks you pick up in the supermarket don’t contain any crab.
People were left shocked at this realisation, with one person writing: “I will never purchase this ever again! Thank you for opening my eyes!”
Another said: “I always thought this stuff was disgusting, now I KNOW it is.”
But some weren’t put off after seeing behind the crabstick curtain.
One person commented: “I love adding lots of mock crabmeat to my delicious pasta salad recipe. See, now y’all went and made me hungry!!!”
“To be perfectly honest, I like the product. It’s very affordable and makes a very good cold crab salad,” said another.
Ignorance is bliss.
