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I purchased a small container (8 oz) of frozen crabmeat. I do not know if it is cooked or not. The contents appear to be grey (it's a clear plastic tub).

The container reads: Wild Caught Special Crabmeat Small Pieces of White Meat Perishable; Pasteurized

There's other writing on the container as well, but I don't think it's relevant.

JustRightMenus
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  • FWIW, I've never seen frozen or refrigerated crab meat sold which was not already cooked. For one thing, it's very hard to get the meat out of the crab without cooking. For another, you'd have to consume it within 24 hours of thawing it if it was raw. – FuzzyChef Dec 29 '11 at 06:13

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"Pasteurized" means that it was kept at temperatures below cooking for a prolonged time, which kills most pathogens. Pasteurized food is reasonably safe for consumption without further cooking, provided it has been kept well refrigerated since the pasteurization.

However, I doubt that the taste will be especially good after just a pasteurization. For the sake of taste, and also to further reduce food safety risks, I would cook it before eating.

rumtscho
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  • For crab meat, while it's great cooked, I like it just pasteurized on a salad. Maybe with some mayonnaise and herbs. – yossarian Dec 28 '11 at 13:45