I’m still thinking about the crazy food influencer car crash story. Obviously my sincerest healing thoughts go out to the YouTube hosts as they recover from being rained on with shards of broken glass. But I’m also me, and glutton that I am, I’m still thinking about those shrimp and grits. It’s been years since the last time I had real shrimp and grits! (I had a Dolly Parton frozen meal of the dish recently; the packaging was adorable and I adore Dolly, that’s all I’ll say.) Part of what makes shrimp such a good protein is the way it takes on flavor so well. One seasoning I absolutely draw the line at, however, is “radioactive,” which is why I will be steering clear of Great Value brand raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart, per the FDA’s warning this week that inspections at ports found contamination of Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection alerted the FDA about possible Cesium-137, or Cs-137, detected in shipping containers at four U.S. ports, the FDA said Tuesday in a press release. Testing on frozen shrimp from the distributor, Indonesia’s BMS Foods, also tested positive, the FDA said.
However, no shrimp that has tested positive for Cesium-137 has entered the U.S. food supply, according to the FDA.
The FDA is still recommending a recall on all products from BMS Foods that were shipped after the company’s shipping containers tested positive for Cesium-137, even though the products themselves have not tested positive.
The following Great Value brand frozen shrimp products should not be eaten, sold or served:
*Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
*Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
*Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, 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 said in its press release.
The FDA said it is working with distributors and retailers that received the shrimp from BMS Foods “to recommend that firms conduct a recall,” according to the press release.
The FDA said it determined 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.”
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,” the FDA said.
Cesium is a soft-flexible, silvery-white metal that becomes liquid near room temperature, but easily bonds with chlorides to create a crystalline powder, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
External exposure to large amounts of Cesium-137, according to the EPA, can cause burns, acute radiation sickness and even death.
Oh hell nope to the isotope! My Atomicology degree from Wikipedia University taught me that Cesium-137 is a commonly-produced fission product from the nuclear fission of Uranium-235, and to this day is the main source of radiation in Chernobyl’s 30-kilometer zone of alienation. So in layman’s terms, nothing we want anywhere near our food and water! This is why having a dedicated agency in our government to run food safety inspections is so vital, and why we should all be up in arms that HHS Secretary Brain Worm is out to gut the FDA’s lifesaving work. Thank goodness none of the contaminated shrimp entered the food supply yet. So once again, folks, it’s Great Value raw frozen shrimp that we have to avoid for the time being.
Lastly, did you notice how the Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act used the term “insanitary” conditions? Did any other of my fellow intelligent bitches read that and think it should have been unsanitary instead of insanitary? I honestly did not think “insanitary” was a real word, and was prepared to offer up my own cheeky definition that it’s a portmanteau of insane with unsanitary, referring to cases of poor hygiene and mental health. But no, Merriam–Webster tells me it’s a legitimate word. I sit corrected.
Photos via Imgur/RabbiHimself, Walmart, Cats Coming on Pexels and Shark Tale/Fandango Movie Clips
I don’t see where Walmart says they will reimburse you for having to throw the shrimp out though.
All you had to say was “Walmart shrimp” for me to steer clear of that, radioactive or not.
LOL! My first thought was every word of that headline is a giant nope.
Farmed shrimp has done enormous environmental damage to essential mangrove ecosystems throughtout Southeast Asia and South America — AND — there’s a pervasive problem with shrimp farms using slave labor (all this is easily google-able, even with the shit algos).
I’m pretty omnivorous, but no shrimp for me, not for years.
The first problem is buying shrimp from Walmart. Hell to the no.