CPG Sec 540.700 Labeling of Processed and Blended Seafood Products Made Primarily with Fish Protein

Administrative guidance, not enacted legislation. This captured publisher edition preserves the listed document and attachments; later developments are not independently consolidated.

CPG Sec. 540.700 Labeling of Processed and
Blended Seafood Products Made Primarily with
Fish Protein
You may submit either electronic or written comments regarding this guidance at any time.
Submit electronic comments to http://www.regulations.gov. Submit written comments to the
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers
Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. All comments should be identified with the docket
number listed in the notice of availability that publishes in the Federal Register.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Office of Regulatory Affairs
December 2014
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Background
III. Policy
IV. Regulatory Action Guidance
V. Specimen Charges
This guidance represents the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) current thinking on this
topic. It does not create or confer any rights for or on any person and does not operate to bind
FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if the approach satisfies the requirements
of the applicable statutes and regulations. If you want to discuss an alternative approach, contact
the FDA staff responsible for implementing this guidance.

I. Introduction:
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for FDA staff on the proper labeling for
processed and blended seafood products made primarily with fish protein.
FDA's guidance documents, including this guidance, do not establish legally enforceable
responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe our current thinking on a topic and should be viewed
only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use
of the word should in FDA guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but
not required.
II. Background:
A processed and blended seafood product made primarily with fish protein can be fabricated
from one or more fish species. An example of this would be surimi, which is a fish protein
product consisting primarily of the myofibrillar protein fraction from one or more fish species.
Surimi is an intermediate processed seafood product used in the formulation and fabrication of a
variety of products that are made to resemble, and be promoted as substitutes for, crabmeat,
shrimp, lobster, scallops, and other seafood.
Surimi is made from minced fish meat (e.g., pollock, cod, or Pacific whiting) that has been
Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 4
washed to remove fat and undesirable matter (such as blood, pigments, and odorous substances),
and then mixed with cryoprotectants (such as sugar or sorbitol) to improve its frozen shelf life. In
formulating finished seafood products made with surimi, the surimi is typically thawed and
blended with other ingredients such as the seafood being imitated, seafood flavoring, salt, water,
and starch or egg white. This mixture is then heat processed and extruded to make fibrous, flake,
chunk, and composite-molded consumer products. The finished processed seafood products are
marketed frozen or unfrozen and may be breaded.
III. Policy:
A. Name of the Product
1. If a processed and blended seafood product made primarily with fish protein substitutes and
resembles a specific type of seafood, including its shape, form, or color, but is nutritionally
inferior (as defined in 21 CFR 101.3(e)(4)) to that seafood, it must be labeled as imitation in
accordance with 21 CFR 101.3(e). For example, a processed and blended seafood product made
primarily with fish protein that is a substitute for crabmeat, resembles crab meat, and is
nutritionally inferior to crabmeat, must be labeled “imitation crabmeat.” An additional statement

of product identity may appear on the principal display panel. For example, if the processed and
blended seafood product is made with the seafood it is intended to resemble, then the following
statement of identity could be used: “Fish Protein Blended with ________.” The blank is to be
filled in with the common or usual name of the specific ingredient, such as snow crab (21 CFR
101.3).
2. A processed and blended seafood product made primarily with fish protein that: (1) does not
resemble a specific type of seafood or seafood body part; or (2) is not a substitute for a specific
type of seafood or seafood body part need not be labeled as imitation but must bear a name that
is appropriately descriptive, e.g., “Fish Protein Blended with Snow Crab” or “______ flavored
seafood, made with surimi, a fully cooked fish protein.” The blank should be filled with the
common or usual name or an appropriately descriptive name of the seafood that characterizes the
flavor, e.g., “crab,” “lobster,” “shrimp” (21 CFR 101.3(b)).
B. Ingredient Statement
1. All ingredients must be listed in the ingredient statement of the finished product by their
common or usual names in descending order of predominance by weight, in accordance with 21
CFR 101.4(a), unless exempted from ingredient declaration under 21 CFR 101.100(a). For
example the ingredient statement might list the following: "Fish protein (contains one or more of
the following: pollock, cod, and/or pacific whiting), snow crab, water, sugar, wheat starch,
sorbitol, artificial flavor, salt, potassium chloride, sodium tripolyphosphate, tetrasodium
pyrophosphate, glucose, artificial color." Flavors, colors, or incidental additives that are or
contain major food allergens are not exempted from ingredient declaration and must be declared
in accordance with section 403(w) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act)
(21 U.S.C. 343(w)).
2. The fish protein ingredient may be declared in the ingredient statement by the collective name
“fish protein” followed with a parenthetical listing of the specific common or usual names of
each species that may be present, in accordance with 21 CFR 101.4(b)(23), e.g., “fish protein
(contains one or more of the following: pollock, cod, and/or Pacific whiting).” Acceptable
Market Names identified in Guidance for Industry: The Seafood List – FDA’s Guide to
Acceptable Market Names for Seafood Sold in Interstate Commerce should be used in the
parenthetical listing.
3. The specific common or usual name of any seafood ingredient must appear in the ingredient
statement in accordance with 21 CFR 101.4(a) and (b). An acceptable market name of any
seafood ingredient may be used, when appropriate. For example, the acceptable market name,
“lobster” may be used rather than “American lobster.” (See The Seafood List).
C. Other Required Labeling

The labeling of processed and blended seafood products made primarily with fish protein
covered by this CPG must be truthful and non-misleading, consistent with applicable provisions
of sections 403 and 201(n) of the FD&C Act, including section 403(w) of the FD&C Act relating
to misbranding with respect to labeling for the presence of major food allergens.
IV. REGULATORY ACTION GUIDANCE:
Field Offices should consider recommending legal action for false or misleading labeling of the
fish protein name for a processed and blended seafood product made primarily with fish protein,
in the product name or in the ingredient statement, only when the misbranding is included as an
additional charge to other statutory violations. Field Offices should consult with the Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Compliance, Division of Enforcement
(HFS-605) before recommending a legal action (e.g., seizure, import refusal) based solely on the
misbranding addressed in this CPG.
V. SPECIMEN CHARGES:
Applicable charges will be determined after consulting with CFSAN and based on considering
all potential misbranding violations associated with the case.
Material in italics is new or revised.
Issued: 6/3/1985
Reissued: 10/30/1989
Revised: 11/20/2008; 12/18/2014