Well, there are other spices for crab meat made in Baltimore including JO Spice and Baltimore Spice so the state is probably being careful not to promote any one company. I have a friend that works at McCormick (McCormick now makes Old Bay Seasoning) who prefers JO Spices no-salt crab seasoning. And Old Bay came out with a lower salt version last spring.
Personally, I like Old Bay (can you guess!) and don't think it's salty. I've bought crab seasoning in bags at the local wharf that were just loaded with salt. Now those work fine with steaming crabs but you can't then convert their use to other recipes because they are 1/3 to 1/2 salt.
Lots of places around here have Old Bay out on the table to serve with whatever you want including the Subway Sandwich shops so it's quite a widely used seasoning 'round here and is my personal preference with crabs and crabcakes. On the boardwalk in Ocean City, it's the secret to the Boardwalk Fries.
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