FDA warns against eating certain shrimp sold at Walmart amid investigation into radioactive contamination

By Jeffrey Kopp, CNN

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday urged the public not to eat certain bags of frozen raw shrimp sold at Walmart, citing concerns about unsanitary conditions and radioactive contamination found in shipments from the same supplier.

The FDA said that a radioactive isotope, cesium-137, was detected in a sample of breaded shrimp detained at US ports – in Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami – from an Indonesian supplier named BMS Foods.

Those contaminated shipments never reached the US market. However, because Walmart’s raw frozen shrimp came from the same supplier – and the agency said it “appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137” – officials advised consumers to avoid eating them.

The levels of cesium detected – about 68 becquerels per kilogram – were well below the FDA’s intervention level of 1,200 Bq/kg. Still, regulators issued the advisory out of caution, citing the potential risks of cancer from long-term, low-dose exposure and problems at the supplier’s facility.

The advisory applies to 2-pound Great Value bags of white vannamei shrimp, all carrying a best-by date of March 15, 2027. They were distributed to Walmart stores in at least 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

The agency is advising consumers who purchased the shrimp to throw it away or return it, and, said an investigation is ongoing in conjunction with Indonesian seafood regulatory authorities.

Walmart confirmed to CNN that it “immediately recalled the product from impacted stores.” CNN has also reached out to the supplier for comment.

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