Shrimp Glazing Percentage: How EU Buyers Check Net Weight

Shrimp glazing percentage is the share of a frozen pack's weight that is ice. In the EU, the net weight on the label must exclude that ice. Most disputes start one step earlier, with the base: 20% glaze measured on frozen weight and 20% added on top of net weight describe two different cartons.

What does a glaze percentage measure?

Glaze is a thin coat of ice put on shrimp after freezing. It slows dehydration and freezer burn while the product sits in cold storage and in transit. Codex requires the water used for glazing to be potable water or clean seawater.

Every glazed carton therefore carries two weights. Frozen weight is shrimp plus glaze, before packaging. Net weight is shrimp only, measured after the glaze is removed. The glaze percentage links the two, and it is the line in a frozen vannamei contract that decides how much shrimp a buyer receives per tonne shipped.

Gross basis or net basis: why the same 20% gives two cartons

Suppliers and buyers quote glaze on two bases. Both are legitimate. They give different amounts of shrimp, so the contract has to name one.

• Glaze as a share of frozen weight. 20% glaze means 1,000 kg of frozen product holds 800 kg of shrimp and 200 kg of ice.
• Glaze added on top of net weight. 20% glaze means 200 g of ice for every 1,000 g of shrimp. The same 1,000 kg of frozen product then holds about 833 kg of shrimp and 167 kg of ice.
• 100% net weight (NW). The declared weight is all shrimp. The glaze sits on top and is not counted at all.

The gap between the first two readings is about 33 kg of shrimp per tonne of frozen product. On a full reefer load, that is enough to turn a fair price into a claim. The fix is simple: state the declared net weight per pack and say which base the glaze figure uses.

What does EU law say about glaze on the label?

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers sets the rule in Annex IX, point 5: where a food has been glazed, the declared net weight must be exclusive of the glaze. The Codex standard for quick frozen shrimps and prawns (CXS 92-1981) carries the same requirement in its labelling section.

The UK applies the same text as assimilated law. Primary Authority advice issued with the British Frozen Food Federation in May 2024 goes further on practice. It treats a gross weight that includes glaze as misleading in almost all cases, says count per pound must be graded on unglazed weight, and allows a handling weight on trade cartons only if it is clearly labelled and no more prominent than the net weight.

For importers bringing shrimp into the EU, glaze is a labelling and commercial point. It sits beside the health certificate and listing checks covered in our guide to importing seafood from Vietnam into the EU.

How do buyers test glaze on arrival?

Codex CXS 92-1981 gives a deglazing method in section 7.3.2. Most inspection plans follow it or a close variant.

1. Open the pack straight from low-temperature storage and weigh it frozen.
2. Raw shrimp: put the contents in a container and run room-temperature fresh water in from the bottom at about 25 litres per minute. Cooked shrimp: place the contents in potable water at 27 °C, using eight times the declared weight, until the ice has melted, turning blocks over several times.
3. Remove all glaze you can see or feel, until the shrimp separate easily.
4. Pour the contents onto a dry, pre-weighed woven wire sieve with a 2.8 mm aperture (or 2.38 mm, US No. 8). Use a 20 cm sieve for 500 g or less and a 30 cm sieve above that.
5. Tilt the sieve at about 20° and drain for two minutes.
6. Weigh the sieve with the shrimp and subtract the sieve. The result is the net content.

Glaze percentage on a frozen-weight basis is then (frozen weight minus net weight) divided by frozen weight, times 100. Run the same formula on every sampled pack and compare the result with the tolerance in the contract.

What should a glaze clause in the purchase order include?

A short clause prevents most arguments. Use this checklist when you write or review a spec for frozen shrimp:

• Declared net weight per inner pack and per master carton.
• Glaze figure and its base: percentage of frozen weight, percentage on top of net, or 100% NW.
• Tolerance on net weight and on glaze, and how many packs per lot are sampled.
• Test method, for example Codex CXS 92-1981, section 7.3.2.
• Count size graded on deglazed weight, so a 26/30 count means the same thing to both sides. Our shrimp count size guide explains the units.
• Carton marking: net weight shown, and any handling weight labelled as such.
• Who tests and where: buyer's lab at destination, or a third-party inspector at loading.

How TBESFOOD quotes glazed shrimp

TBESFOOD packs raw and cooked vannamei, including nobashi and butterfly cuts, to the glaze basis and net weight written in the buyer's spec. Send your spec with the glaze line filled in, and the quote will state net weight and glaze on the same basis, so prices from different suppliers can be compared side by side.

FAQ

Is glaze included in net weight in the EU?

No. Annex IX, point 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 says the declared net weight of a glazed food excludes the glaze.

What does 100% net weight mean for frozen shrimp?

The declared weight is all shrimp. Any glaze is added on top and is not part of the declared figure, so the frozen weight of the pack is higher than the label.

Is shrimp count size measured before or after deglazing?

It should be measured on deglazed weight. UK Primary Authority advice treats grading on glazed weight as misleading, and stating it in the purchase order removes doubt in other markets.

Which method do inspectors use to measure glaze?

Many follow the deglazing method in Codex CXS 92-1981, section 7.3.2: thaw off the glaze with water, drain on a sieve for two minutes, then weigh.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex IX (net quantity declaration), point 5
• Codex Alimentarius, CXS 92-1981 Standard for Quick Frozen Shrimps or Prawns (amended 2014)
• Primary Authority Assured Advice CCC/860039/I, Glazed Seafood Weight Indication, BFFF, May 2024