NBC News
Another sea product company is withdrawing several of its products with frozen shrimp for possible radioactive contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a statement issued Thursday.
Southwind Foods, a California company, is removing a “limited amount” of its frozen shrimp after they could have been exposed to Cesium-137 (CS-137), “a soft, flexible and silver white metal that becomes liquid at room temperature” used in medical devices and meters, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The retired products were distributed between July 17 and August 8 to retailers, distributors and wholesalers of Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington, added the FDA, which did not specify what retailers the frozen shrimp sold or how those of Southwinds Foods radioactive
The brands included in the withdrawal are: Sand Bar, Best Yet, Arctic Shores Seafood Company, Great American Seofood Imports Co. and First Street.
The measure occurs a few days after a similar withdrawal of frozen shrimp of the Indonesia PT food company. Bahari Makmur Sejati, also known as BMS Food, and sold in the Walmarts throughout the United States, the FDA has declared that the radioactive exposure reports are actively investigating in the shrimp transport containers.
Consumers who have bought retired frozen shrimp should not consume the product and must discard or return it to the place of purchase to obtain a complete refund, health authorities reported.
Repeated exposure at low doses of CS-137 can cause “a high risk of cancer, as a consequence of the DNA damage to the living cells of the body,” said the FDA. So far no disease cases have been reported.
