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Hello everyone. Thank you for the quick responses about crab meat being gluten 
free. It seems everyone says that most imitation crab meat contains gluten. 
There may be a few companies that have a gluten free version but they are not 
that common as people had a hard time remember the names of them. Most people 
suggested going with the canned or fresh version of crab meat or a lobster 
substitute. Thank you very much for getting back to me!


Below are the specific comments I received:

I've always heard this also.  I'm a nutritionist and was taught in school that 
this was true, BUT if it is true, the label must state it.

I found one imitation crab product that did not contain wheat but it was in an 
Asian food market. I don't remember the brand. But I do think it's a shame that 
imitation crab has wheat, son really likes crab salad. 


If you read the ingredients you'll see wheat clearly listed. Allegedly there are 
one or two that don't have wheat, but I haven't found them yet.

yes...it contains wheat.

They definitely contain gluten, which is incredibly frustrating (no California 
rolls for us at Sushi restaurants).  This is because they are made up of various 
fish meat pieces held together with binding starches- wheat.  I have yet to find 
a brand that does not contain gluten.  This might be one area where either 
replacing the crab in your recipe with fish or shrimp might be the way to go, 
but if you're able to find a GF brand, that would be very exciting!

most imitation crab meat contains wheat.  read the labels.  there is one that 
does not but do not remember the brand. 

Some brands do and some do not. It is a case of looking at the ingredients in 
all of the different brands.

You can purchase both types.  they use wheat to dust the crabmeat so it doesn't 
stick together; but you can get it with tapioca flour.  Just need to read those 
labels.

Yes, the processed "crab" contains wheat.....unfortunately.
 
Surimi (artificial crab) is a cheaper fish that is processed with various other 
ingredients and flavorings into a product that tastes "like" real crab.  Wheat 
is one of those ingredients.  

 
Canned (real) crab is not very expensive and would work for you.  Read the 
ingredients on the cans available in your area.

You will hear this from a lot of people I am sure.  Imitation crab contains 
wheat. It says so on the label. I don't know of any that do not. 

 
Imitation crab contains wheat as a binder.  The package the store receives 
states that it contains wheat.

If you really want to serve  crab meat, get the real stuff - expensive though it 
may be.  The imitation stuff is indeed made with gluten,  Get a recipe for small 
bay scallops. You CAN SEARCH OUT RECIPES ON LINE. AND THEY AR E DELICIOUS. 
 

I did a quick Google search and found this 
link: http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/70331-imitation-crab-meat/

I hope you find it useful.

If you look at the ingredients, you'll see that it has wheat unfortunately.

Yes, absolutely, imitation crab meat contains wheat.  I've eaten a lot of 
Japanese food, and never seen an instance in which this was not true.

It is called surimi in Japanese, and it is a combination of white fish paste and 
starch ... which is almost always wheat-based.  I suppose, technically, there 
could be surimi that uses some other kind of starch, such as potato or tapioca 
-- but I've just never seen it.  If anyone tells you of a commonly available 
surimi with no wheat starch, I hope you'll pass the information along to the 
list!  


One other thought, I have found that most of the shrimp salad sold in the 
supermarket chains here come in a bucket from some catering company someplace 
and they invariably have wheat flour or starch in them as a thickener.  So if 
you buy any packaged tuna or shrimp salad, check the ingredients if it is not 
made from scratch.

I also was surprised to read the wheat as an ingredient in imitation crab,
but found an imitation lobster that did not contain it.  We always have to
read those labels.  The "lobster" was just as tasty and inexpensive, and the
store usually had it in stock.

Indeed immitation crab is made from wheat and very clearly states it. 

I buy lump crab in a can when I make sushi. There is a new expensive 
refrigerated version, but the less expensive can is near the tuna cans. There's 
a difference, but in a dip I'd say it would be tough to notice, where in sushi 
it's more obvious. 


You may have gotten a bunch of responses on this already, but crab meat that is 
artificial often contains gluten. The real stuff is fine :) Unfortunately 
because of corporate america, many restaurants that market "real" crab meat are 
often not telling the truth (ex. sushi) and we end up finding out the hard way. 


For all my gf life, I've never known a single imitation crab to NOT contain 
gluten. However, I did a little googling and found this company called 
"transocean" which makes a few that do not contain gluten, but they 
can't guarantee it's gluten free (ex. cross contamination etc.):

We do not add any gluten containing ingredients to the Lobster Classic Chunk and 
our Crab Classic Chunk formulas. However, we do NOT certify these products to be 
gluten free. Certification requires special handling, testing and specially 
designed lines which we do not have. We take all reasonable precautions to avoid 
cross contamination however we cannot eliminate all risk.


I'd honestly say, for what it's worth, don't risk it for yourself or whoever 
you're preparing it for. It could lead to some really bad results if it ends up 
containing gluten after all.

I've never seen an imitation crab mea that doesn't contain gluten (wheat), but 
my local Kroger carries an imitation lobster that, as of the last time I 
purchased it, didn't contain gluten ingredients.  The starch was either tapioca 
or potato.  It works very well in the types of salads for which one might use 
the imitation crab.

Most "Imitation Crab, Shrimp, Lobster, Scallop Meat" contain wheat or wheat
starch as a binder for the Pollock Fish that is the seafood that is being 
flavored.

Over the past year we have seen one or two that do not have wheat or wheat
starch in them, but can't remember the brand and we haven't seen it lately.

You may want to try and find canned claw crab meat, if you're just using it for 
a
dip.

From what I understand most brands do use wheat starch. A few years ago I talked 
with one of the manufacturers of surimi (the fake crab) and he indicated that he 
could make surimi with any starch his clients wanted to use. With the cost of 
wheat getting higher & gluten free becoming more trendy hopefully more brands 
will become gluten free. I remember hearing that there were brands that were 
gluten free. 


I keep kosher so the brand I use may not be available in your area. I use 
DynaSea which states on the package that it is gluten free. It should be 
available in Minneapolis which has a large Jewish community and possibly Duluth 
(Cub Foods 615 West Central Entrance has a kosher section).  They make it as a 
block of "crab", "shrimp" and in a log shape (about 10-15 logs). It is sold in 
the freezer section so it will keep awhile if you buy alot at one time. Here in 
Baltimore it runs about $6-7/pkg. 


Because I keep kosher I have learned to shop when I am out of town for items I 
cannot find locally. Many  gluten free products are not kosher so I have to 
search for choices, do without or make it from scratch. I always travel with a 
cooler (and I have one that keeps things cold for days) and check out what I can 
find when I visit other communities/countries.

I have found that the cheap crab meat that comes in tins like tuna fish have 
been just fine.  As always, read the labels.

From what I have seen most ALL of the imitation crab meats CONTAIN GLUTEN. 
 Every time I am in a new store I check because my family LOVED munching on this 
all the time pre-celiac.  I did just recently find imitation crab meat at a 
Target superstore that did NOT indicate wheat on the label.  I called Target to 
verify the gluten status and was told that it IS in fact free of gluten!  Oh 
happy day!  This is in the western suburbs of Chicago!

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