Walmart has recalled several lots of its Great Value frozen shrimp across 13 U.S. states after federal health officials detected traces of Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in imported shipments from Indonesia. The move adds fresh pressure to the nation's largest retailer at a time when food safety and supply-chain oversight are under heightened scrutiny.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it instructed Walmart to pull three batches of frozen raw shrimp after U.S. Customs and Border Protection flagged containers arriving at ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, Ga. Subsequent FDA testing found Cesium-137 in one sample of frozen breaded shrimp.
"If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away," the FDA said in a public statement. While the risk from the contaminated products is "quite low," the agency warned that prolonged exposure to Cesium-137 "could lead to health problems over time."
Walmart confirmed the recall and said it was cooperating with regulators and suppliers. "The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority," a Walmart spokesperson told the BBC. "We have issued a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores. We are working with the supplier to investigate."
The affected products include Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp with lot codes 8005540-1, 8005538-1 and 8005539-1, all with best-by dates of March 15, 2027. They were sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Consumers are eligible for a refund if they return the products to Walmart.
Food safety specialists stressed that the contamination levels detected were far below FDA intervention thresholds. The risk from the recalled shrimp is "quite low," said Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University, though he added that avoiding the products was prudent.
Cesium-137 is a byproduct of nuclear fission, found in trace amounts globally as residue from nuclear weapons testing and accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima. The isotope can damage living cells with long-term exposure.
The FDA is continuing to investigate shrimp shipments from Indonesian supplier P.T. Bahari Makmur Sejati, also known as BMS Foods. Several of the company's containers have already been denied entry into the U.S. after testing. While the contaminated breaded shrimp that initially triggered the alert did not enter U.S. commerce, subsequent shipments reached Walmart before detection, leading to the current recall.
