The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public not to eat, sell or serve certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart due to possible contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope. Testing on frozen shrimp from Indonesian distributor BMS Foods revealed positive results, but no contaminated shrimp have entered the US food supply.
The FDA recommends recalling all products from BMS Foods shipped after the shipping containers tested positive for Cesium-137, even if the products themselves haven’t been tested. Consumers who purchased raw frozen shrimp matching the specified lot codes and best-by dates should discard them immediately.
BMS Foods has been banned from shipping products into the US until it resolves the conditions that led to the contamination issue. The FDA is working with distributors and retailers to ensure a recall of affected products.
External exposure to Cesium-137 can cause severe health effects, including burns, acute radiation sickness, and death. The contaminated shrimp were shipped to four US ports, prompting the FDA’s alert on Tuesday.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/fda-warns-public-eat-possibly-radioactive-shrimp-sold/story?id=124780934