The Food and Drug Administration is warning the public not to eat, sell, or serve certain Great Value brand frozen shrimp sold at Walmart stores over concerns it may be radioactive.
Although testing to date has not confirmed the presence of contamination in any product in commerce, the product appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern.
To date, FDA has learned that Walmart has received implicated raw frozen shrimp, imported after the date of first detection of Cs-137 by CBP, but from shipments that did not alert for Cs-137. FDA has recommended Walmart recall this product.
Consumers should not eat or serve certain lots of Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart stores in AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK, PA, TX, and WV:
- Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
- Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
- Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005539-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027.
If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away. Do not eat or serve this product.
Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium that is man-made through nuclear reactions and because it is widespread worldwide, trace amounts of Cs-137 can be found in the environment, including soil, food, and air. FDA food monitoring focuses on radioisotopes (radionuclides) that are not normally present and are generally the result of human activities. Any unexpected finding of Cs-137 in a food product is evaluated to determine if follow up action is warranted on a case-by-case basis. After being alerted to the contamination of shipping containers detected by CBP, FDA initiated sampling of products which included five different shrimp products from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, one of which was a sample of frozen breaded shrimp. FDA’s laboratory confirmation of Cs-137 in the breaded shrimp had detectable levels of Cs-137 present at 68.48 Bq/kg +/- 8.25 Bq/kg. There was no detectable Cs-137 in the other products tested; however, this does not rule out contamination.
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