The FDA initiated the first recall in an Aug. 19 notice, announcing certain raw frozen shrimp products processed by Indonesian company PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) had tested positive for Cesium-137, also known as Cs-137. A handful of manufacturers sold these products under different brand names to retailers nationwide.
The FDA published an expanded recall notice on its website on Dec. 19, one of 12 notices that have been issued in the growing recall.
Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium, meaning it is a chemical element that emits radiation as it breaks down. It is man-made and is produced by nuclear fission, according to the FDA. In the United States, it is used in medical devices and measurement gauges.
Because it is widespread around the globe, trace amounts can be found in the environment, including soil, food and air, the FDA said. Agencies, including the FDA and U.S. Customs & Border Protection, test for, monitor and regulate the presence of the substance due to the risks associated with long-term exposure.
The FDA said low-level radiation exposure over time can lead to serious health complications. Exposure to Cs-137 alone can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, cancer and death. Due to the risks, governing agencies restrict potential exposure to lessen the possibility of these long-term impacts.
We still have an FDA?
Sigh.
Where were newly recalled shrimp sold?
Market 32-branded shrimp were sold at Price Chopper stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
Waterfront Bistro-branded shrimp were sold at Jewel-Osco, Albertsons, Safeway, Lucky and Supermarket stores in Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Aw. Shrimp didn’t come with a bonus chance of superpowers back when I could afford them.
Boofft
Yo mama so poor she can only afford foods likely to have Ecoli.
Keep spending enough time online and you’ll turn into a shrimp person without radioactive shrimp. At least posture wise.
Because the real shrimp power was in our hearts all along.
I said the first time that CS-137 was very unlikely to be an isolated event…
It’s rare in large quantities and only shows up like that as a result of nuclear weapons, of which more than you’d expect have been lost in the ocean.
Maybe it’s just broken measurement devices, but every recall makes that explanation less likely.
What context is wikipedia missing from this investigation section about cs-137 that makes you think that there is more out there?
The Indonesian government followed up on the report, with a joint team membered by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Trade, National Energy Regulatory Agency, National Research and Innovation Agency, Mobile Brigade Corps, and local government officials[20] conducting a search in the Cikande Modern Industrial Area and discovering the presence of Cs-137 radiation.[21] The government has declared a special incident for Cs-137 radionuclide radiation in the Cikande Modern Industrial Area. The radioactive substance has reportedly contaminated nine people.[22] On October 3, Indonesian authorities announced that the radioactive material originated from a metal scrapyard in the Modern Cikande industrial park near Jakarta, and that the nine contaminated local people and workers have undergone special medical treatment.
The scrapyard factory is considered to be the epicenter of the contamination; the number of contaminated areas throughout the industrial park, which was initially thought to be six, was later determined to be ten (two of which have been decontaminated).[23] Investigators ascertained that the caesium-137 entered the domestic supply chain through a stainless steel smelter operated by PT Peter Metal Technology in Cikande, Banten province; it has been declared the local source of contamination and shut down. Given that the scrapyard and the seafood processing plant were less than 2 km apart, the working hypothesis is that the cesium-137 was airborne, or carried by the wind.[24]
On 14 October 2025, the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Trade issued a temporary ban of importation of iron and metal scraps into Indonesia.[25]
A ring of iron thieves also played a role in dispersing the radioactive contamination. On 10 December 2025, police uncovered a group that had been stealing iron scraps from PT Peter Metal Technology iron waste storage over several months. Although only about 200 kg of scraps were stolen, compared with 1.136 metric tons of contaminated materials overall in storage, the radioactive contamination from the stolen iron was inadvertently dispersed by the ring through their clandestine network, so far reaching Serang Regency.[26]
I mean…
That is bigger than the initial theory that it was just bad luck and some malfunctioning equipment…
Like, that says contaminated ore was smelted into iron, passed by air transmission to the shrimp factory and that’s what caused it…
That means a shit ton went into iron, and with a 30 year half life that iron will become irradiated and now we got fucking cobalt 60 and that’s around for like 50 years and way more dangerous.
What you quoted is a huge fucking deal, especially since it’s grey market iron and who knows where it is.
Cs137 didn’t really exist until after WW2, so when it pops up enough to be noteworthy, then it is almost always more than we initially found. The chances of us discovering that kind of contamination and coincidentally having found it all immediately just isn’t plausible. It’s almost always some sort of larger primary contamination like this steel plant.
Why do you think a tiny bit of that is somehow relevant in steel? People usually should not eat steel. Ah the same time, it shields from the radiation, so the steel itself is safe, since only the surface fraction can radiate into the environment. And that not inside your body, unless you ignore part 1.
Why
Because I gave a couple years of my life to the most stressful school in America so the US government could spend well over six figures teaching me about nuclear energy and radiation damage…
You could just read a textbook or even Wikipedia and have you’re questions answered tho.
But to answer you main question:
Something with a 30 year half life will make the steel itself radioactive overtime. If it is in low enough quantities and deep enough to initially read safe, that’s even worse cause it’s hard to find, but a decade from now not only will it still have most of the CS 137 in it, it will have made the steel itself radioactive. And by that point will likely read as radioactive, but who tests a decade old piece of metal to see if it’s now radioactive?
Like, just because you don’t understand why this is a big deal, doesn’t make it ok
While the discovered source is bad, its not as bad as where my mind went initially for the source of the Cs137:
I had wondered if it was Fukishima contaminated water discharge:
"TEPCO anticipates that the ongoing release of wastewater, currently exceeding 1.3 million metric tonnes, will span approximately 30 years. "
If a company could avoid a recall by paying for more retesting they would do that instantly.
It’s not testing error.
Cs-137 is used to kill bacteria and such. It’s used in a bunch of industries, but fishing is a biggie.
And yeah, cesium is also chemically toxic.
But it’s useful, so we make a bunch of it each year.
So what I hear you saying is that if I act quickly I can stockpile CS-137 for future extraction. And fried shrimp.
Cool.
Fuck, don’t tell the vegans.
Too late, we’ve heard everything
Sorry I didn’t notice you in that balaclava, it makes you blend in with the darkness
