Food safety officials warned the public Tuesday about possible contamination of shrimp sold at Walmart in 13 states.
Customs and Border Protection detected the radioactive isotope Cesium-137 in shrimp sent to America by Indonesian company PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, doing business as BMS Foods, the Food and Drug Administration said. Customs agents found the contamination in shipping containers at the ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, Georgia.
FDA testing also found that a sample of a breaded shrimp product was contaminated. The agency said no products that tested positive for Cesium-137 have been sold or entered the food supply.
The FDA is coordinating with distributors and retailers that received BMS Foods shrimp after the detection to get the seafood recalled. The 2-pound bags of Great Value frozen raw white vannamei shrimp sold at Walmart fall into that category.
People who bought the Great Value shrimp with a best-by date of March 15, 2027, and a lot code 8005540-1, 8005538-1 or 8005539-1 at Walmart stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia are urged to throw it away.
A Walmart spokesperson told The Associated Press that consumers can also return the implicated bags of shrimp to the store for refunds.
“The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority. We have issued a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores. We are working with the supplier to investigate,” Walmart said in a statement to Fox News.
BMS Foods is under an import ban until the Indonesian firm fixes the issues that caused the Cesium-137 contamination, the FDA said.
