Did you know? All shrimp were not created equal. Here are a few tips on telling the good from the bad.

- Shrimp are marketed and commercialised with several issues in mind. Most shrimp are sold frozen and marketed based on their categorisation of presentation, grading, color, and uniformity.
- The main forms of presentation are head on shell on (HOSO), shell on (SO or “green headless shrimp”), peeled tail on (PTO), peeled undeveined (PUD), peeled and deveined (P&D), and butterfly tail on (BTTY-TO).
- Sometimes a letter ‘F’ is placed in front of these abbreviation for the presentation in order to state that the shrimp comes from a farm (example: FSO – farmed, shell on).
- European and Asian markets prefer the HOSO presentation (which is a whole shrimp), while the American shrimp market prefers the remaining presentations.
- Shrimp are graded according to their count per weight.
- The standard pack is in a 2 kg box, 10 boxes into a master carton.
- The remaining presentations are graded in units per pound (U15, 16/20, 21/25, 26/30, 31/35, 36/40, 41/50, etc. pcs/lb).
- The standard pack is in a 5 lb box, 10 boxes into a master carton.
- The numbers in the grading code indicate maximum and minimum quantity of pieces per unit weight, with U standing for “under”.
- HOSO shrimp are also graded according to their colour, with A1 being the lightest colour and A5 the darkest colour.
- Shrimp tend to take on the colour of their habitat, so sandy ponds tend to yield an A1 colour shrimp, and shrimp ponds with plastic black liners tend to yield A5 colour shrimp. A2–A3 colour shrimp are preferred for fresh commercialisation, and A4–A5 colour shrimp are preferred for cooked commercialisation.
- The other presentations are not usually graded by colour.
- Another concept to grade is the uniformity.
- This is measured by visually selecting the ten largest and the ten smallest pieces from 1 kg of product.
- The two groups are then weighed separately and the weight of the large pieces group is divided by the weight of the small pieces group.
- The result is the uniformity factor.
Tagged: coloring, facts, food, Food Facts, food finds, foodimentary, fun, fun facts, history, life, presentation, shrimp, shrimp grading, shrimp marketing, shrimp types, uniformity, weight, wordpress
Reblogged this on Meals on Wheels.
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Shrimp ooooh yeah! I grade them delicious! Cindy’s Recipes and Writings Thanks for the info, John-Bryan!
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Reblogged this on msamba.
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Have in all fairness only eat fresh boiled shrimps from the Atlantic waters and they are to die for. Have been food poisoned by shrimps a couple of times abroad so I stay away from them outside Sweden, it’s a painful experience *laughter
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Reblogged this on Technospunky blah blah blogging on wordpress.
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Love shrimp. The ones I eat are from the Gulf of Mexico and are not as salty in flavor.
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Hah! Now I know more about shrimp than my know-it-all partner! Can’t wait to tell him about it;-)
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We eat loads of shrimps in Sweden … a massive industry in all the Nordic countries. Thanks for all the fantastic facts … love my shrimps – but fresh (hand peeled) and on toast, with load of mayonnaise, lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper. That’s Yummy!
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