A decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving Maine’s lobster industry indigestion. The FDA recently ruled that producers of imitation crab products may drop the word “imitation” from their product description. Under the new regulation, products made from fish paste, or “surimi,” can now be sold in retail stores labeled as “crab-flavored seafood” even though they contain no crab. According to Kristen Millar, executive director of the Maine LobsterPromotion Council, that increases the threat to the Maine lobster industry from surimi products marketed in the guise of lobster.
“This is just one more example of how the FDA is homogenizing the seafood industry and misleading consumers,” Millar 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.” According to Millar, one Seattle-based company that sells surimi “lobster” products also produces products from pelagic crab. Earlier this year, the FDA allowed companies to market products made from pelagic crab, a 2-inch crustacean similar to a hermit crab, as “langostino lobster.” According to published reports, Millar said, products manufactured from surimi, a mix of ground white fish, starches, additives and flavorings, can be produced for 10 percent of the cost of the products they imitate.
“The Maine Lobster industry will be compromised, if not devastated, by what amounts to fraud at the federal level,” Millar said. “The FDA’s action creates a direct threat to our lobstermen because our industry stands to lose its greatest competitive advantage — our brand.”