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2025 radioactive shrimp recall

The 2025 radioactive shrimp recall began on 18 August 2025, when the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement that shipments of shrimp from Indonesia had been contaminated by caesium-137.[1][2] This initial report indicated that none of the contaminated shrimp had entered the marketplace; an update, on 19 August, stated that three batches sold under the Walmart store brand Great Value had been distributed after a lack of prior detection; ‍[3] in all, shipments of contaminated shrimp had arrived at ports Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Savannah.[4] The contaminated shrimp were recalled by Walmart.‍[5] Further recalls was issued on August 21 by Southwind Foods of Carson, California and Beaver Street Fisheries of Jacksonville, Florida.[6][7]

The contaminated shrimp had been processed by Indonesian seafood supplier Bahari Makmur Sejati (more familiarly known as BMS), all of whose shipping containers were promptly placed on the FDA's seldom-used Import Alert 99-51[8] list (or "Hot List")‍[9] and summarily denied entry to the U.S.‍[10]

The FDA's threshold for mandatory action is 1200 becquerels per kilogram. The contaminated shrimp was at 68 Bq/kg 17 times lower than this threshold (nonetheless 100 times above background levels)[11] and on par with the radiation naturally emitted by the potassium in bananas. Health physicists from the American Nuclear Society noted that these levels of radioactivity in frozen shrimp were abnormal and warranted further investigation.[12] (While one-time exposure would not present an acute hazard to consumers, chronic exposure could damage DNA, thus elevating cancer risk.)[13][2]

The Jakarta Post and Voice of Indonesia reported on August 20–21 that BMS had halted all production and shipment of shrimp to the U.S. pending investigations by the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP).[14][15][16]

On August 25 FDA the recall was expanded beyond Walmart's Great Value brand to five others—Arctic Shores, Sand Bar, Best Yet, First Street, and Great American—covering 12 different products. The shrimp impacted had been distributed between July 17 and August 8, included both raw and cooked frozen shrimp, and had been distributed to Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. The recalls en toto now covered 18 states.[17]

Two further recalls were issued August 27 and August 28, by AquaStar (USA) Corp[18] of Seattle, Washington. The first covered 18,000 bags of 2 pounds (0.91 kg) net of Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp. The second recall covered 26,460 packages of refrigerated cocktail shrimp 6 ounces (170 g), the first recall specifically of cocktail shrimp,[19] covering 27 states.[20]

Investigation

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On October 3, Indonesian authorities announced that the radioactive material originated from a metal scrapyard in the Modern Cikande industrial park near Jakarta, and that nine workers have been hospitalized. The scrapyard factory is considered to be the epicenter of the contamination; the number of contaminated areas throughout the industrial park, which was initially thought to be six, was later determined to be ten (two of which have been decontaminated). [21] Investigators ascertained that the caesium-137 entered the domestic supply chain through a stainless steel smelter operated by PT Peter Metal Technology in Cikande, Banten province; it has been declared the local source of contamination and shut down. Given that the scrapyard and the seafood processing plant were less than 2 km apart, the working hypothesis is that the caesium-137 was airborne, i.e. carried by the wind.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Program, Human Foods (August 29, 2025). "FDA Advises Public Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Certain Imported Frozen Shrimp from an Indonesian Firm". FDA – via www.fda.gov.
  2. ^ a b https://shrimpalliance.com/fdas-enforcement-actions-raise-broad-concerns-regarding-indonesian-shrimp/
  3. ^ "FDA Advises Public Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Certain Imported Frozen Shrimp from an Indonesian Firm". United States Food and Drug Administration. 2025-08-18.
  4. ^ "Potentially radioactive shrimp sold at Mariano's, other stores in Illinois and Indiana". ABC7 Chicago. 29 August 2025.
  5. ^ Picci, Aimee (2025-08-19). "Walmart recalls Great Value shrimp after FDA warns of risk of radioactive contamination". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2025-08-21. Retrieved 2025-08-19.
  6. ^ Investigations, Office of Inspections and (21 August 2025). "Southwind Foods, LLC Recalls Frozen Shrimp Because of Possible Health Risk". www.fda.gov.
  7. ^ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/beaver-street-fisheries-llc-recalls-great-value-frozen-raw-shrimp-because-possible-health-risk
  8. ^ "Import Alert 99-51". www.accessdata.fda.gov.
  9. ^ "Radioactive shrimp recall is bigger than Walmart — FDA expands investigation to 9 states". Yahoo News. 25 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Walmart recalls shrimp after FDA warns of radioactive isotopes". BBC News. 20 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Potentially radioactive shrimp sold at Mariano's, other stores in Illinois and Indiana". ABC7 Chicago. August 29, 2025.
  12. ^ "Cs-137 contaminated shrimp? What we know". www.ans.org.
  13. ^ "FDA Investigating Imported Radioactive Shrimp Sold at Walmart | Food Safety". www.food-safety.com.
  14. ^ "Indonesian Frozen Shrimp Found Polluted By Cesium, Trade Minister Ensures Export Of Fishery Products To The US Continues". VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan.
  15. ^ "BMS Foods says it has suspended all... - The Jakarta Post".
  16. ^ Post, The Jakarta. "US radioactive material alert halts work at Indonesian shrimp exporter - Economy". The Jakarta Post.
  17. ^ "FDA expands radioactive shrimp recall to 18 states — here's what to check in your freezer". creators.yahoo.com. August 25, 2025.
  18. ^ "Major Indonesian Shrimp Exporter PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati Placed on FDA Red List". Seafoodnews.
  19. ^ Investigations, Office of Inspections and (28 August 2025). "Aquastar (USA) Corp Recalls Kroger Mercado Frozen Cooked Shrimp Because of Possible Health Risk". www.fda.gov.
  20. ^ Kekatos, Mary; Neporent, Liz (August 29, 2025). "FDA expands warning of radioactive shrimp as 2 more brands are recalled". ABC News.
  21. ^ Dewi Kurniawati, Gayatri Suroyo (2025-10-03). "Indonesia races to determine extent of radioactive contamination at industrial zone". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
  22. ^ https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3327649/indonesia-races-contain-fallout-radiation-scare-tied-us-bound-food-shipments
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