FDA Issues Warning Over Potentially Radioactive Shrimp
The Food and Drug Administration has warned the public not to consume certain frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart due to possible contamination by cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.
He said the warning affects the brand of large value of gross frozen shrimp sold to the superstore, adding that anyone bought the products should eliminate them.
A declaration by the agency said that the FDA “actively investigated the reports on contamination by CESIUM-137 (CS-137) in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products” shipped with Indonesia.
He indicated that the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) had detected the CS-137 in shipping containers in four American ports: Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah and Miami. Containers that have been tested positive for isotope have been denied entry to the United States
The FDA added that although it has not confirmed the presence of contamination in a commercial product in the United States, shrimp products seem “to have been prepared, wrapped or detained in unsanitary conditions by which it may have become contaminated by the CS-137 and can pose a safety problem”.
“If you recently bought Walmart raw frozen shrimps which corresponds to this description, throw it away. Do not eat or do not serve this product,” added the FDA declaration.
The FDA said that exposure limited to CS-137 can cause “a high risk of cancer, resulting from DNA damage in living cells in the body”.
The quantity of CS-137 detected by the FDA is lower than its “concern” for imported food, he said. Despite this, the agency said that the recall tries to respond to the concerns related to “repeated exposure at low doses”, repeated “.
The FDA recommended that anyone who bought or who sells the products to throw them. Walmart also advised customers the products in their possession of throwing them away. The company confirmed on time that it immediately recalled the products of affected stores and said that customers who had already bought them could visit any Walmart store for a full refund.
“The health and safety of our customers are always an absolute priority,” a spokesperson for Walmart said in a statement. “We have published a sales restriction and removed this product from our affected stores. We work with the supplier to investigate. “
The CS-137 is the most common radioactive isotope of cesium, according to the American environmental protection agency (EPA). It is produced by nuclear fission to be used in medical devices and gauges, and it is often used in radiotherapy to treat cancer.
The CS-137 can also be a waste from nuclear reactors and has been found near nuclear accidents.
People are often exposed to small quantities of CS-137 due to the isotope remaining in the environment after nuclear weapons tests in the middle of the 20th century. The CS-137 can last in the ground for years, which means that it often finds itself in the food cycle and in the food that people ingest. As a general rule, this is at extremely low levels that are not harmful to people, although the FDA emphasizes in its statement, even low levels of CS-137 radiation can possibly accumulate and become harmful.
Large quantities of the isotope, on the other hand, can be incredibly dangerous, and in addition to increasing the risk of cancer, can cause burns, radiation rays and even death, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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