Walmart has recalled some of its shrimp products in the US after radioactive material was detected in a shipment of seafood.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public not to eat frozen shrimp sold under Walmart’s Great Value label could have been exposed to a dangerous isotope in shipping containers.
One sample of breaded shrimp tested positive for the substance, the FDA said, but this positive sample “did not enter US commerce”.
Consumers in 13 US states the shrimp products are sold have been advised to throw any recently bought products among three batches.
“The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority,” a Walmart spokesperson told the BBC. “We have issued a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores. We are working with the supplier to investigate.”
The spokesperson added that consumers who bought the recalled products could visit any Walmart location for a full refund.
The recalled shrimp was sold at Walmart locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia, and shoppers in those states were advised to be cautious.
It came from an Indonesian supplier that has since had a number of shipping containers denied entry to the US, the FDA said.
One shipment tested positive for Caesium-137, the radioactive form of the periodic element Caesium.
The amount contained in the tested shipment held by the FDA was not enough to pose acute harm to consumers, exposure over time could pose an elevated risk of cancer by damaging living cells in the body, said officials from the agency.
Caesium-137 is made through nuclear reactions and is present in trace amounts in soil, food and air worldwide. It is one of the principle sources of radiation around Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan.
The FDA said no Caesium-137 had been detected in the other products it tested, but cautioned this did not rule out contamination.