CRABSTICKS, those versatile red-pink-and-white seafood products, are used everywhere from salads to hotpots, soups to crunchy snacks.
But what are little crabsticks made of?
Is it plastic and colouring and other things inedible, as claimed in a video that is going around which shows white blocks being processed into a kind of slurry that is then used in the crabstick production line?
VERDICT:
FALSE
If we're offered a bottle of umami goodness in the form of fried crabstick strips, should we cringe or binge?
In a recent Facebook post, the Melaka Health Department's Food Safety and Quality Division debunked the made-from-plastic claim.
"Another viral (video)? Good people of Melaka, please read on to learn just what is the main ingredient in this popular food item," it wrote.
According to the post, the main ingredient in crabsticks is surimi, or finely minced fish meat, which is mixed with sugar and other ingredients.
The white blocks in the video are actually frozen surimi, which are processed into a paste-like consistency (as are your favourite fishballs and fishcakes).
It is then pressed into the shape of Japanese snow crab/spider crab legs before being given the appropriate (edible) food colouring to complete the look.
"Surimi is the main ingredient in many seafood products like fishballs, fish fingers, fishcakes, fish nuggets and so on.
"It can be frozen for up to six months," the division wrote.
Furthermore, it added, in accordance with the Food Regulations 1985 at least 50% of any fishcakes or fishballs (and by extension, crabsticks) must be made of actual fish meat.
It also said two to three million tonnes of the global fish catch is used to make surimi annually, with the United States and Japan among the largest producers.
Thailand and China are also gaining prominence on the surimi manufacturing scene, with Malaysia among the emerging producers alongside France, Chile and Vietnam.
So there you have it, there's fish in them thar' crabsticks.
