Gone Fission
Growing up in the 1980s at the tail-end of the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear conflict with the U.S.S.R. was always lingering. As a coping mechanism, popular culture created positive things from the prospect.
For example, the band The Firm released the hit single “Radioactive.” Comics, movies and TV shows depicted ordinary people becoming superheroes after being exposed to radiation, such as the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the Toxic Avenger and the Simpsons’ Radioactive Man.
In reality, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to radiation can cause radiation sickness, which may result in nausea, vomiting, headaches and diarrhea. It can burn the skin and even cause cancer or death.
Because of its seriousness, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning 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.
In a press release, the FDA said it was alerted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection about possible Cesium-137, or Cs-137, detected in shipping containers at U.S. ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami. Containers that tested positive for the isotope were denied entry to the U.S. Frozen shrimp from the distributor, Indonesia’s BMS Foods, also tested positive for radioactivity.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cesium is a soft, flexible, silvery-white metal that becomes liquid near room temperature and easily bonds with chlorides to create a crystalline powder. External exposure to large amounts of Cesium-137 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness and “an elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body.”
Thankfully, the FDA revealed that no shrimp that tested positive for Cesium-137 entered the U.S. food supply. Further, the amount of Cs-137 detected in the shrimp is still below “levels of concern” for imported foods. All products from the company are now banned from coming into the U.S. “until the firm has resolved the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation.”
To be safe, though, the agency is still recommending that Walmart recall all products from BMS Foods that were shipped after their shipping containers tested positive for Cesium-137, even though the products themselves have not tested positive. The recall would prevent “longer term, repeated low dose exposure.”
“The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority,” a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement. “We have issued a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores.” Customers who had already purchased the contaminated shrimp can visit any Walmart store for a full refund.
The FDA claims the shrimp from BMS Foods violates the Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act “in that it 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.”
Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp products should not be eaten, sold or served if they are labeled with the following: lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027; lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027; or 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,” the FDA advised in its press release. In addition, the FDA is working with distributors and retailers that received the shrimp from BMS Foods “to recommend that firms conduct a recall.” Walmart confirmed this, saying, “We are working with the supplier to investigate.”
So, if you see things glowing in the frozen foods aisle, stay away.
Reg P. Wydeven
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