Beware: Radioactive shrimp!

It sounds like something from a bad science fiction movie, but it's real enough, and consumers in Florida and a dozen other states are warned to clean out their freezers

A radioactive isotope has been found in shipping containers used to transport frozen shrimp to the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration has warned stores to clean out their shelves.

Consumers in thirteen states have also been cautioned to check out their refrigerators, too, for the potentially contaminated shrimp, and dispose of it.

The warning was issued on packages of Great-Value brand frozen raw shrimp sold by Walmart in Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

How dangerous is it?

While prolonged exposure to the isotope Cesium-137 could cause illness—or even death—shipments of the shrimp appear to have been stopped at the docks where they arrived from Indonesia.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection alerted the FDA to the problem detected at four U.S. ports, including Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Savannah. The FDA said it had blocked all the containers from entering the country.

“The product appears to have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated,” the FDA said.

Walmart has removed the shrimp from its shelves. Consumers are urged to throw out any packages they may have previously purchased.

So what is Cesium-137? It’s a manmade radioactive isotope that is a byproduct of nuclear fission. It is used in some instruments and even in some forms of cancer therapy.

How did it get into the shrimp containers?

At the moment, it’s an unresolved question.

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J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the editor of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.

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