Surimi Seafood, What’s In a Name?
‘Imitation’ Versus ‘Flavored Seafood’
By SHARON J. WISHNOW, QFFI Correspondent

Lobster Smart Natural is one of Shining Ocean’s new generation of surimi seafood products sold in the North American market under the Kanimi label.

The United States Food and Drug Administration changes labeling regulation to remove stigma of ‘imitation’ from surimi products. But not everyone is happy with the decision.

Next to milling grain into flour, surimi seafood, a product that is made by deboning and mincing white-fleshed fish, rinsing the meat, and turning it into a paste, is probably one of the oldest value-added food processes developed by humans.

This technique was invented at least 800 years ago in Japan, and the Japanese are still the largest consumers of surimi today. And like many processed foods, it is subject to debate in the United States. In the case of surimi, the controversy surrounds product labeling.

Until just recently, all surimi products that were made to resemble other products, such as crab or lobster, were required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry the term “imitation” on their packaging. Consumers became accustomed to buying imitation crab, lobster or other products such as Sea Legs or Krab Legs, names given to products that hinted to what they were supposed to mimic.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report from 2004 (the most current data available) states that 400 million pounds of surimi was produced from Alaska pollock. The Pacific Seafood Group (www.pacseafood.com) reports that more than half of the Pacific whiting catch in US waters is now processed into surimi. That amounts to about 40,000 tons.

NOAA further reports that in 2004, surimi was the second leading exported food commodity from the United States. With these types of numbers it’s hard to see why the word “imitation” could cause such a problem, but it did. The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) as well as surimi producers have argued over the past 10 years that the word “imitation” was misleading customers into thinking that the product they were buying wasn’t real seafood. NFI, working with the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), provided the FDA with information necessary to change the food labeling rule. Surimi products now can be sold in packaging that says “...flavored seafood, made with surimi, a fully cooked fish protein.”

Stacey Viera, a spokesperson for NFI, told Quick Frozen Foods International that the December 2006 ruling allowing producers to remove the word “imitation” is an important marketing step for surimi producers and helps consumers better understand what they are buying.

Not all in the seafood industry are pleased with the ruling, however. Kristen Millar, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, said: “At a time when consumers are demanding accurate labeling and natural foods, it’s unfathomable that the government would allow some businesses to profit at the expense of an entire industry, through such misleading marketing.”

She went on to say, “The Maine lobster industry will be compromised if not devastated by what amounts to fraud at the Federal level. We simply want what’s ethical. Companies must be required to disclose true product composition. If it’s Alaska pollock, call it Alaska pollock. If it’s Maine lobster, call it Maine lobster. The FDA’s action creates a direct threat to our lobstermen because our industry stands to lose its greatest competitive advantage – our brand.”

From a surimi producer’s point of view, the ruling is an important victory, but it’s not as cut and dry as it seems. Robert Bleau, vice president of sales for Sumner, Washington-based Shining Ocean, says that though the ruling allows his company and other producers to remove the word “imitation” from packaging, they still have to state what is in the package. He agrees with the NFI that the ruling takes away the confusion concerning product being made from real seafood. However, no one can claim that surimi products contain shellfish or any other ingredient, if they don’t.

Shining Ocean is taking the removal of the word imitation to the next level by working to produce an all-natural surimi product. The company’s Kanimi brand Crab Smart offering is fortified with Omega-3 fatty acid. The line was recently extended with Crab Smart Natural and Lobster Smart Natural, which are produced without phosphates or artificial colors or flavorings. The product gets its familiar red color from tomato-based lycopene (a recognized antioxidant), caramel and paprika. It is seasoned with sea salt and contains zero trans fat.

Bleau reports that a great deal of effort was put into packaging and that the product has been successfully placed into 2,000 stores. He explained that for these stores this is a new product, not a line extension. An eight-ounce (267-gram) portion retails for between $2.99 and $3.49, and is available in crab flake, crab stick, and lobster flake formats. Sales are reportedly robust.

The truth in labeling requirement also holds true for other surimi producers. Bellingham, Washington-based Trans-Ocean’s surimi lines of Crab Classic and Jaiba Supremo contain crab, and the Lobster Classic item features lobster.

Seattle, Washington-based Icicle Seafood’s Crab Deluxe surimi product states on the front of the package that it contains real King Crab, while Trident Seafoods Corp., also of Seattle, makes Louis Kemp Seafood branded Lobster Delights and Crab Delights, which also contain real lobster and crab meat.

No one can predict if the FDA ruling will help increase per capita consumption of surimi in the United States, but there does seem to be room for growth on the global stage. The December 2006 Surimi Market Report from Globefish, a UN-affiliated organization that monitors the international fish trade, notes: “Production and consumption of surimi-based products have now spread into many Asiatic and Western countries, with a global output that can be estimated today at 1.4 million tons.”

Additionally, the report states, “In 2005, surimi product sales at wholesale markets in Japan showed a decrease of five percent in volume – confirming a continuous decrease – in spite of average price reduction. Conversely, in countries having recently become surimi consumers, especially Western countries, the same phenomena of changing food habits are fueling the development of this consumption.”

Time will tell how consumers will respond to updated packaging that no longer says “imitation.” One thing that still holds true is that surimi seafood salad mixtures are often paired with that other long-ago processed product – bread. And a sandwich will always be called a sandwich.