Topline
The Food and Drug Administration is warning that some Great Value brand frozen shrimp sold at Walmart could be contaminated with radioactive isotope Cesium-137 after Customs and Border Protection detected the substance in shipping containers at four major American ports and at least one sample of shrimp.
Cesium-137 was detected in some frozen shrimp coming from Indonesia—but none that have been sold in stores yet.
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Key Facts
CBP detected cesium-137 in shipping containers at the ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami, and also confirmed the isotope was present in one tested sample of frozen breaded shrimp—and stopped these shrimp from entering the country.
The FDA has not confirmed the presence of cesium-137 in any shrimp that have been sold in the U.S. so far, but are concerned that shrimp coming from Indonesian producer BMS Foods were “prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions” and could have also been contaminated.
The FDA is recommending Walmart recall frozen shrimp coming from BMS Foods, and the retailer has not returned a request for comment from Forbes.
Which Shrimp Products Should Be Avoided?
The FDA is warning consumers specifically to avoid Great Value frozen raw shrimp with the lot codes 8005540-1, 8005538-1, and 8005539-1. All of these shrimp have a sell-by date of 3/15/2027. If you have purchased any of these products, the FDA recommends you throw them away immediately and avoid eating or serving them. Walmart’s product recall website warns customers not to eat imported frozen shrimp sold at stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia.
What Is Cesium-137?
Cesium-137, or Cs-137, is produced by nuclear fission and is a byproduct of nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. Cs-137 was one of the primary concerns after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 also released Cs-137 into the environment, exposing many fish and other wildlife in the Pacific to the isotope—including migratory fish like the Pacific bluefin tuna and albacore tuna, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. People are exposed to Cs-137 every day due to trace amounts left in the atmosphere from past nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but this exposure poses much less of a risk compared to concentrated exposure over long periods of time through contaminated food and water. This type of exposure could damage a person’s cells and DNA, the FDA warned in a recent alert. The level of Cs-137 found in the shrimp sample was also small, the FDA said, but it could lead to health risks when combined with exposure radiation in the environment and from other sources like medical procedures.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2025/08/19/fda-warns-some-frozen-shrimp-might-be-contaminated-with-radiation/
