Crabsticks have been a go-to snack for seafood lovers for decades — sweet, soft, and perfectly shaped to look like strips of real crab meat. But recently, a viral video peeled back the glossy packaging to reveal what’s really inside those imitation crab delights… and the internet wasn’t ready.

If you’ve ever enjoyed crabsticks in your sushi or seafood salad, you might want to sit down for this one. Because after watching how they’re made, many people are saying: never again.

What You Don’t See Behind the Seafood Section
Let’s be honest — most of us enjoy food without giving much thought to how it’s made. And maybe that’s for the best. There’s a reason the saying goes, “Everyone loves sausage, but nobody wants to see how it’s made.” The same could now be said about crabsticks.

That viral video, which made its way from YouTube to nearly every social feed, took viewers behind the scenes of a crabstick factory. What started as curiosity turned into stomach-churning disbelief.

So… What Are Crabsticks Actually Made Of?
Here’s the first shocker: there’s no crab in crabsticks.

Instead, it starts with frozen fish meat — usually Alaskan pollock, a cheap and abundant white fish found in northern waters. The fish is defrosted and tossed into a massive industrial mixer, where it’s ground down into a pale, mushy paste. This paste, called surimi, is the backbone of imitation crab.