More companies have recalled certain packages of shrimp products since the Food and Drug Administration announced it was investigating reports of radioactive contamination last month.
One expert in culinary medicine spoke to HuffPost to weigh in on the new development and whether consumers should be concerned.
The FDA initially announced on Aug. 19 that it recommended Walmart recall its Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp with three different lot codes after Customs and Border Protection detected a radioactive isotope known as Cesium-137 in shipping containers at ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Savannah, Georgia. The FDA was then able to confirm the presence of Cs-137 in one sample of breaded shrimp.
The products were processed by P.T. Bahari Makmur Sejati, an Indonesian company doing business as BMS Foods. Since then, more companies have recalled various shrimp products over concerns of potential radioactive contamination.
On Monday, the FDA posted an update that Southwind Foods, LLC, of California had recently expanded its voluntary recall to include more frozen shrimp that was distributed between July 17 and Aug. 8 to retailers, distributors and wholesalers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington state.
Southwind’s initial frozen shrimp recall was posted on Aug. 21. Other companies, such as Beaver Street Fisheries, LLC, of Jacksonville, Florida, and AquaStar USA Corp. of Seattle, have similarly since issued recalls on shrimp products.
The FDA has stressed that the shrimp sample that tested positive for Cs-137 was not released to be sold in the U.S., and that the containers that tested positive for radioactive contamination were denied entry into the country.
But the agency’s initial recommendation to recall specific shrimp products sold at Walmart — and the subsequent voluntary company recalls — are due to concerns that those products may have been “prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern,” the FDA explains.
Product descriptions for all the recalled shrimp products announced so far can be found here on FDA’s website, which also states that additional companies have initiated recalls directly with their customers.
Whether you’ve purchased a now-recalled product or you have general concerns about radioactive contamination in foods, read on to hear more about the health risks associated with Cs-137, and whether or not this recent wave of recalls should concern you.
What is Cs-137, and how concerned should we be with these recent waves of shrimp recalls?
The FDA notes that Cs-137 is a radioactive isotope of cesium (a naturally occurring element) that is “man-made through nuclear reactions,” and that traces of it can be found in the environment, such as in soil, food and air.
People are exposed to “some Cs-137 every day,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
Dr. Nate Wood, an assistant professor of medicine and the inaugural director of culinary medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, said that the recent detection of Cs-137 that was found in shrimp was “certainly an unusual situation” but “not necessarily as alarming as it first appears.”
The FDA stated in its announcement that it detected a measurement of about 68 becquerels per kilogram of radioactivity in the positive shrimp sample, which is below its “Derived Intervention Level” of 1,200 becquerels per kilogram — a guidance level used for determining when protective measures should be considered.
“The level of radioactive Cs-137 that was found in the shrimp was very, very low,” Wood told HuffPost. “Of course, it’s not good to consume food that is contaminated with radioactive metals. Consuming radioactive metals in large doses or over long periods of time can damage our muscles, bones, and organs as well as cause cancer.”
“However, if someone was to have consumed this contaminated shrimp just one time, given the low level of Cs-137 that was present, they would not be likely to have any symptoms or long-term effects of any kind,” he continued.
Wood said that overall, consumers shouldn’t be “terribly concerned” by the recent wave of shrimp recalls, since “none of this contaminated shrimp is thought to have entered the U.S. food supply.”
He said that he would recommend those who purchased the recalled items to dispose of them, in line with the FDA guidance. But if you’ve already consumed a now-recalled product, Wood doesn’t think there’s any need to worry.
“Should they happen to fall ill in the next couple of weeks, I would recommend that they report to their health care provider that they consumed the contaminated shrimp,” he said. “However, they can be reassured that the shrimp is not likely to have caused their illness (though we’ll leave that to the treating physician to decide).”