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GCC STANDARDIZATION ORGANIZATION (GSO) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GSO 1922/2009 (E) 
 
 
 
 
-ﺍﻷﺴﻤﺎﻙﺜﺍﻝﺼﺩﻓﻴﺔﺜ ﺜﺜﺜ:ﺍﻝﺠﺯﺀﺜﺍﻝﺜﺎﻨﻲﺜ 
ﺴﺭﻁﺎﻥﺜﺍﻝﺒﺤﺭﺜﺍﻝﻤﺒﺭﺩﺜﻭﺍﻝﻤﺠﻤﺩ ﺜﺜ 
Shellfish — Part 2 : 
Chilled and frozen sea crab 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
ICS : 67.120.00  
      
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shellfish — Part 2 : 
Chilled and frozen sea crab 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Date of GSO Board of Directors' Approval  :  29/5/1430h (24/5/2009)  
Issuing Status : Technical regulation 
  
  
  
  
  
  GSO 1922/2009 ﺜﺜ GSO STANDARD 
ﺜﺜ 
 
1   Foreword  
 
GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) is a regiona l Organization which consists of the 
National Standards Bodies of GCC member States. One  of GSO main functions is to issue 
Gulf Standards /Technical regulations through speci alized technical committees (TCs). 
GSO through the technical program of committee TC N o (5) "Technical committee for 
standards of food and agriculture products" has pre pared this Standard. The Draft Standard 
has been prepared by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .  
The draft Standard has been prepared based on relev ant ADMO, International and National 
foreign Standards and references. 
This standard has been approved as a Gulf Technical  regulation by GSO Board of Directors in 
its meeting No. (10), held on 29/5/1430h (24/5/2009 ) . 
 GSO 1922/2009 ﺜﺜ GSO STANDARD 
ﺜﺜ 
 
2   Shellfish — Part 2 : 
Chilled and frozen sea crab 
 
1. SCOPE AND FIELD OF APPLICATION 
 This GSO standard is concerned with chilled and fr ozen see Crab fit for human 
consumption. 
2. COMPLEMENTARY REFERENCES 
2.1 GSO 9 “Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods”. 
2.2 GSO 1881  “Methods of Sampling Fish, Shellfish and Their Products”. 
2.3 GSO 589 “Methods for Physical and Chemical Anal ysis of Fish, Shellfish and 
Their Products”. 
2.4 GSO 655 “Methods of Microbiological Eexaminatio n for Meat, Fish and 
Shellfish”. 
2.5 GSO 20 “Methods for Determination of Contaminat ing Metallic Elements in 
Foodstuffs”. 
2.6 GSO 21 “Hygienic Regulations for Food Plants an d Their Personnel”. 
2.7 GSO 323 “General Requirements for Transportatio n and Storage of Chilled and 
Frozen Foods”. 
2.8 GSO 384 “Ice for Human Consumption”. 
2.9 GSO 839  “Food packages – Part 1: General Requi rements”. 
2.10 GSO 998 “Methods for Detection of Limits of Ra diation Levels in Foodstuffs”. 
2.11   GSO 1016 “Microbiological Criteria for Foods tuff  – Part 1”. 
2.12 GSO 1026 “Code of Hygienic Practice for Prepar ation, Transportation, Handling 
and Storage of Fish”. 
3. DEFINITIONS  
3.1 Crab: Sea living shellfish that belongs to the species of Cancer, Lithodes, 
Paralithodes and Portunidae. 
3.2 Chilled crab: Crab (item 3.1) preserved immedia tely after fishing at temperature of 
+5oC. 
3.3 Frozen crab: Crab (item 3.1) quick frozen immed iately after fishing at a 
temperature of –35 oC with or without cooking so that its thermal cente r reached –
18 oC as quickly as possible. GSO 1922/2009 ﺜﺜ GSO STANDARD 
ﺜﺜ 
 
3   3.4 Whole crab: The crab (item 3.1) with claws and legs intact with the body.  
3.5 Cut crab: Crab (item 3.1) properly cleaned and centrally cut with or without legs 
and claws. 
3.6 Cut crab meat: Muscle meat extracted from crab (item 3.1). 
3.7 Cooking: Heating the product for a specific per iod of time at a suitable 
temperature adequate to coagulate the protein. 
3.8 Glazing: A thin protective layer of ice which i s formed on the surface of a frozen 
product. 
4. CLASSIFICATION OF CRAB 
 Crab is classified according to its form in to the  following: 
4.1 Whole crab (item 3.4). 
4.2 Cut crab (item 3.5). 
4.3 Cut crab meat (item 3.6). 
5. REQUIREMENTS  
 The following requirements shall be met in sea cra b: 
5.1 It shall be prepared according to hygienic regu lations stated in the 
GSO standards mentioned in items 2.6 and 2.12. 
5.2 All the forms of crab (item 4.0) shall be prepa red from chilled or 
frozen crab fit for human consumption. 
5.3 The water used for preparing the product shall be potable water or 
clean sea water. 
5.4 If the frozen product is glazed, water used for  glazing or preparing 
glazing solutions shall be potable or clean sea wat er. 
5.5 It shall be free from any extraneous materials.  
5.6 It shall retain its natural characteristics par ticularly taste and odor. 
5.7 It shall be free form rancidity, and objectiona ble odor or flavours. 
5.8 The flavor of the final product shall be charac teristic of the species 
from which it is produced. 
5.9 Contaminating metallic elements shall not excee d the following based 
on wet weight: 
 Lead   1.00 ppm 
 Mercury   0.50 ppm 
 Cadmium   0.10 ppm GSO 1922/2009 ﺜﺜ GSO STANDARD 
ﺜﺜ 
 
4    Arsenic   0.50 ppm 
5.10 Microbiological limits shall be in accordance with the GSO standard 
mentioned in 2.11. 
5.11 It shall be free from insects and parasites ha rmful to human health. 
5.12 Radioactivity levels in the final product shal l not exceed the maximum 
limits permitted according to the GSO standard ment ioned in 2.10 . 
5.13 Surface dehydration (freezer burns) shall not exceed 10% of the 
weight of the crab in the sample unit or 10% of the  surface area of the 
crab meat block. 
6. SAMPLING 
 Samples shall be taken according to the GSO standar d mentioned in (2.2). 
7. METHODS OF TESTING AND INSPECTION   
 All necessary tests shall be carried out on the rep resentative sample taken 
according to (6)  to determine its compliance with this standard. 
7.1 The contaminating metallic elements shall be de termined according to the GSO 
standard mentioned in 2.5. 
7.2 Physical and chemical tests shall be carried ou t according to the GSO standard 
mentioned in 2.3. 
7.3 Microbiological examination shall be carried ou t according to the GSO standard 
mentioned in 2.4. 
7.4 Radioactivity level shall be determined accordi ng to the GSO standard mentioned 
in 2.4. 
8.      PACKAGING, TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE: 
8.1 Packaging 
 Without prejudice to the what is stated in the GSO  standard mentioned in  2.9 , the 
following shall be met: 
8.1.1 The packages used shall be made from suitable  materials impermeable to 
moisture, clean, sound and which will safeguard pro duct quality and safety. 
8.1.2 Packages shall provide the product with compl ete protection during transportation 
and storage. 
8.2 Transportation and storage 
 Without prejudice to what is stated in the  GSO st andard mentioned in 2.7, the 
following shall be met during transportation and st orage of crab. GSO 1922/2009 ﺜﺜ GSO STANDARD 
ﺜﺜ 
 
5   8.2.1 Transportation of the product shall be carrie d out by suitable means that protect it 
from mechanical damage and spoilage and that were n ot previously used to 
transport any harmful or toxic materials. 
9. LABELLING 
 Without prejudice to provisions of the GSO standar d mentioned in 2.1, the 
following information shall be declared on the labe l of the products: 
9.1 Species or type of product. 
9.2 Net weight in the case of frozen and glazed pro duct. 
9.3 Date of production stated clearly in an uncoded  manner (day-month-year) in case 
of chilled crab and (month and year) in the case of  frozen crab or crab meat. The 
shelf life of the product shall not exceed 5 days f or the chilled crab and 8 months 
for the frozen crab as from the date of production.