The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to the public on Tuesday, August 19, that certain frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart stores may be contaminated with radioactive substances. The FDA advised Walmart customers to discard some Great Value branded shrimp products.
In a press release on Tuesday morning, the FDA advised Walmart customers not to consume, sell, or provide “certain imported frozen shrimp” from the Indonesian distributor BMS Foods, as these shrimp may contain the radioactive isotope cesium-137.
According to the FDA, officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detected cesium-137 in containers of these shrimp bound for ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah in Georgia, and Miami in Florida. The FDA immediately initiated an investigation.
Cesium-137 is a man-made radioactive substance produced in nuclear reactions. Traces of cesium-137 can be detected in the environment, including soil, food, and air.
Analysis of the contents of the containers confirmed that a sample of breaded shrimp contained cesium-137. Containers that tested positive for contamination are not allowed to enter the United States, and currently, there are no known products that have tested positive for cesium-137 in the U.S. food supply.
As a precautionary measure, the FDA has investigated other shrimp products imported from the same company. The FDA stated, “To date, Walmart has received questionable raw shrimp from the same shipment that was first flagged by CBP for cesium-137, however, the shrimp in question did not originate from the portion of the shipment that triggered the cesium-137 alarm.”
The agency explained that BMS Foods evidently processed these products under conditions that could have led to cesium-137 contamination, thus indicating potential safety hazards with other products as well.
Therefore, the FDA recommended that Walmart recall the affected products and listed specific batch numbers in the warning. Anyone who has recently purchased potentially problematic frozen shrimp from Walmart, as identified by the FDA, should dispose of them and not consume them.
In accordance with the FDA’s directive, Walmart promptly initiated the recall of these shrimp.
The FDA’s press release listed the following Great Value branded frozen shrimp products that have been recalled and should not be consumed:
– Great Value branded frozen raw shrimp, batch number: 8005540-1, best by date: March 15, 2027
– Great Value branded frozen raw shrimp, batch number: 8005538-1, best by date: March 15, 2027
– Great Value branded frozen raw shrimp, batch number: 8005539-1, best by date: March 15, 2027
The FDA warned: “Distributors and retailers should destroy the product and discontinue selling or supplying it.”
Furthermore, the FDA added the Indonesian company BMS Foods to a new chemical contamination import alert. Products from the company will not be permitted entry into the United States until they “address the issues causing the violation.”