Radioactive shrimps in Walmart stores in US: FDA tells buyers to 'throw away' if description matches

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday advised the public to not eat a certain brand of frozen raw shrimp sold at Walmart stores.

The advisory came after a consignment from the same Indonesian supplier was found to have radioactive contamination.

A sample from Indonesian supplier BMS Foods’ consignments detained at the US ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami was found to have a radioactive isotope, cesium-137, according to CNN.

The levels of cesium-137 detected, which was around 68 becquerels per kilogram, were well below the FDA’s intervention level of 1,200 bq/kg, but the agency still issued the advisory out of caution. The advisory concerned the 2-pound Great Value bags of white vannamei shrimp with the best-by date of March 15, 2027.

Cesium-137 is a byproduct of nuclear fission and could have made its way to shrimps through the usage of contaminate water in the farming or feeding of shrimps that itself could be a result of illegal or improper dumping of nuclear waste or a radioactive leak.

In the case of BMS Foods, affected consignments never reached the US markets but the FDA issued the advisory as Walmart was selling raw frozen shrimp from the same supplier. The FDA said that it “appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137”.

Walmart subsequently ordered a recall of the product in 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

A Walmart spokesperson told BBC, “The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority. We have issued a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores. We are working with the supplier to investigate.”

The spokesperson further said that customers who bought the recalled products could visit the Walmart for a full refund.