Consider snacking on crab sticks a thing of the past now that people have sworn off them due to how they’re made.
To be honest, I’ve never attempted to eat a crab stick, and have always been put off by how they look and feel - but I do know people who eat them for breakfast, and they’ll be devastated by this video.
Just like the viral video that circulated years ago about how chicken nuggets are made (I know you remember that ugly pink paste), this one is also one that’ll put you off for life.
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Whether you thought the sticks were made by pressurising crab meat together before slicing it up, or making a mush to be cut into sticks, this is probably worse.
Before you watch it, what colour do you think the crab meat is?
I’ll give you a hint: it’s not pink or white.
Unfortunately, one video on ouTube has opened up a Pandora's Box, and it spilled out slushy grey contents.
No matter how deep you root round in the mush, there is no hope to be found at the bottom of that container.
I'm sure you're now itching to know exactly what happens. But be warned, it's not pretty.
Take a peek:
Firstly, there’s the meat. What you can see are slabs of frozen fish meat, most commonly a species called Alaska Pollack, which is fed into a machine to be broken up.
Other ingredients, including wheat and egg white are then added to the mixture, which is churned up using a large rotating blue disc.
Yum.
This produces a thick goo-like substance (sorry for the visual) reminiscent of wallpaper paste or clay, which is then fed into a machine to produce a long single strip.
These strips are then spun together and shred to initiate the texture of crab or lobster meat.
Some of this can be sold as surimi, or substitute crab meat but the rest is encased in the distinctive orange-coloured casing, which mimics the skin you might find on lobster or crab meat.
Then, the pieces are cut to the right length, and there you go. A lovely snack to-go!
Some viewers were not impressed by the manufacturing process for crab sticks and even felt sick after watching it.
One person wrote: "I will never purchase this ever again! Thank you for opening my eyes!"
As another said: "I always thought this stuff was disgusting, now I KNOW it is."
However, others weren’t running for the hills after seeing the video, and seem to understand that it’s not for everyone.
"To be perfectly honest, I like the product. It's very affordable and makes a very good cold crab salad", commented one.
Another wrote: "I love adding lots of mock crabmeat to my delicious pasta salad recipe. See, now y'all went and made me hungry!!!"
There you go, it seems you can't argue with convenience.
Topics: Food And Drink, YouTube, Viral
Britt Jones