You could ask why does America even import shrimp from foreign countries.
But America does.
With these imports come hazards like possible Cesium-137, or Cs-137. That chemical was detected in shipping containers at four U.S. ports, the Federal Food and Drug Administration stated Tuesday in a release.
The FDA tested Indonesian frozen shrimp from the distributor, Indonesia's BMS Foods.
The shrimp sold at Walmart under its Great Value brand. The recall is for:
- 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.
The release states: "Certain raw frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods), a company located in Indonesia, and sold at Walmart stores in AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK, PA, TX, and WV."
Do not eat, sell or serve this shrimp, the FDA warns.
The FDA states that "no product that has tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 (Cs-137) has entered the U.S. commerce."
According to the release, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) "alerted FDA to the detection of Cs-137 in shipping containers at four U.S. ports' – Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami.
"FDA collected multiple samples for radionuclide analysis, with results confirming the presence of Cs-137 in one sample of breaded shrimp," the release stated. "All containers and product testing positive or alerting for Cs-137 have been denied entry into the country."
What is Cs-137?
Caesium-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," the FDA states.
However, FDA food monitoring "focuses on radioisotopes (radionuclides) that are not normally present and are generally the result of human activities."
The FDA states that "level of Cs-137 detected in the detained shipment was approximately 68 Bq/kg, which is below FDA’s Derived Intervention Level for Cs-137 of 1200 Bq/kg. At this level, the product would not pose an acute hazard to consumers. Avoiding products like the shipment FDA tested with similar levels of Cs-137 is a measure intended to reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could have health impacts with continued exposure over a long period of time."
Health effects of Cs-137 come after longer term, repeated low doses of exposure. That could create an elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body.
Politics of seafood
U.S. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana wrote in a June letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy that imported seafood like Indonesia shrimp hurts the American economy.
The senator urged the prevention of unsafe foreign shrimp from reaching American consumers. A news release from his office states, "While U.S. shrimp manufacturers comply with bans on antibiotic use and numerous environmental regulations, not all shrimp producers in countries like India, Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam abide by the same standards. A recent decline in transparency among members of the foreign shrimp industry has raised further concerns."
Watch more from Sen. John Kennedy here about imported seafood and fish.
Read the Reckoning's story about imported crayfish here.
Richard Owens
