Imitation crab meat is a substitute for real crab meat and is made from surimi, which is a paste made out of finely shredded or pulverized fish, often pollock, that has been deboned, washed to remove fat and unwanted bits, then minced into a paste. The paste is blended with other ingredients such as starches like wheat, potato, or tapioca starch, salt, sugar, egg whites, vegetable oil, and additives to mimic the flavor, color, and texture of real crab meat. The resulting mixture is heated and pressed into shapes that resemble meat from a crab leg. The key ingredient in imitation crab is surimi, which contributes 35% to 50% of the products weight. The other 50% to 65% that makes up imitation crab contains starches, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, egg whites or soy for protein, and water. Imitation crab usually has less than 2% real crab meat, along with a bit of extract from real crab added for flavoring.