The United States Food and Drug Administration recently ruled that the correct market name of Lithodes aequispinus is now “golden king crab,” but it is allowing suppliers to continue labeling it as “brown king crab” for now.
A new federal law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, establishes “golden king crab” as the market name for Lithodes aequispina.
“We recognize that some manufacturers of products containing Lithodes aequispinus meat may still have labeled food products or unused label inventory that refer to ‘Brown King crabmeat,” and that these manufacturers may be concerned that FDA would consider such products to be misbranded,” the FDA said in a recent guidance document.
However, the FDA said it will not take enforcement action against products containing Lithodes aequispina meat with labels referring to “Brown King crabmeat” until 1 January, 2020.
