Food safety question...

NeinerBopper13

Imitation crab meat- Safe? Craving a seafood salad from Subway & cannot find online whether imitation crab is safe! Thanks!

skio

Fine.

mollyskywalker

Gross. Just eat real crab.

NeinerBopper13

Thanks, ladies!

*Off to Subway*  

smrtalec33

I have an app on my phone called "Can I Eat It?" and this is what it says about imitation crabmeat. Obvs you're not going to want to heat your seafood salad to steaming, and you'll most likely be fine if you don't, but it is a listeriosis risk. You could pretend you didn't see this, though. I pretended to not know that the chocolate pie I had a piece of on New Year's Eve had eggs that had been heated, but not fully cooked.

Imitation crabmeat:
It depends. Sometimes sold as "krab," "crab stick," or "crab alternative," imitation crabmeat is made from a mixture of assorted cooked fish, typically cod, croaker, mackerel, Pollock, and/or sardines, that is shaped and dyed to look like crab or lobster. It may be flavored with either shellfish, but typically doesn't contain the actual meat. Imitation crabmeat, also known as surimi, is often sold in refrigerated seafood salads and as sushi, such as in California rolls or as Kanikama.

Because it is precooked and refrigerated, artificial crab should be heated until steaming before eating; if not, it can cause listeriosis, a form of food poisoning caused by bacteria that can be found in refrigerated, readytoeat foods.

Runaway22

mollyskywalker:

Gross. Just eat real crab.

lol this is what I thought.