How a frozen shrimp shipment is graded, start to finish.
Frozen shrimp is graded and sold by count — the number of pieces per pound or per kilo, expressed as a range such as "16/20" (16 to 20 shrimp per pound). US grading tolerance allows the actual count to vary by no more than about 10% from the labelled figure; a "16/20" pack should contain no fewer than roughly 14 and no more than 22 pieces per pound. The US Seafood Inspection Program additionally scores quality on a 100-point index covering appearance, odour and defects, with 85 or above required for Grade A.
The number that catches most first-time buyers off guard is glazing — the protective ice layer sprayed onto frozen shrimp to prevent freezer burn. Some glazing is legitimate and standard practice; export-grade product typically runs 5–10%. But glazing is also water weight sold at shrimp price, and shipments measured at 20% or higher are a real red flag worth verifying, not a rounding difference. It's checked simply: weigh the frozen product, thaw and drain thoroughly, weigh again, and calculate the percentage lost.
For any buyer sourcing frozen shrimp — or other commodity seafood and agricultural products graded by count, weight or moisture content — the inspection question is the same one that applies to coffee: don't take count, grade or glazing claims on the label at face value. Verify them against the actual shipment, because the gap between declared and actual is where cost gets quietly recovered at the buyer's expense.
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