Radioactive metal at an Indonesia industrial site may be linked to
shrimp recall
[September 06, 2025]
By JONEL ALECCIA
Contaminated metal at an industrial site in Indonesia may be the source
of radioactive material that led to massive recalls of imported frozen
shrimp, international nuclear safety officials say, as efforts are
underway to halt more U.S.-bound shipments.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that officials are in
“constant contact” with Indonesian nuclear regulators who have detected
Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, at a processing plant that sent
millions of pounds of shrimp to the U.S.
“Preliminary information suggests that it may have originated from
activities at a metal melting facility at the same industrial site or
from the disposal of scrap metal junk to other areas of the site,” IAEA
spokesperson Fredrik Dahl said in an email.
No U.S. investigators have been sent to the site in Serang, west of
Jakarta, federal officials said.
Meanwhile, the company that exported the shrimp, PT Bahari Makmur Sejati,
also known as BMS Foods, has recalled more than 300 shipping containers
that were already on their way to the U.S., Dahl said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned last month that Cesium-137
was detected in shipping containers sent to four U.S. ports, and in a
sample of imported frozen shrimp. That spurred multiple recalls of
shrimp sold at Walmart, Kroger and other stores.
This week, additional recalls were issued by Tampa Maid Foods LLC, of
Florida, for breaded butterfly shrimp sold under Admiral of the Fleet,
Portico Seafood Classic and other labels.
None of the shrimp that triggered alerts or tested positive for
Cesium-137 was released for sale, the FDA said. But other shipments sent
to stores may have been manufactured under conditions that allowed the
products to become contaminated, the agency said.
The risk appears to be small, but the shrimp could pose a “potential
health concern” for people exposed to low levels of Cesium-137 over
time, FDA officials said.
The FDA issued an import alert for shrimp from BMS Foods to stop the
products from coming into the U.S.
The company sent about 12 million pounds of shrimp to U.S. ports in Los
Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, Georgia, in July and August,
according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records obtained by
Import Genius, a trade data analysis company.
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This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, shows labels for Kroger
Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp recalled by AquaStar
USA Corp. of Seattle. (FDA via AP)
 CPB officials alerted the FDA to
potential radioactive contamination of multiple shipping containers.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has sent emergency
teams on “multiple deployments” to “isolate and characterize the
extent of Cesium-137 contamination,” a U.S. Energy Department
spokesperson said.
The level of Cesium-137 detected in the frozen shrimp was about 68
becquerels per kilogram, a measure of radioactivity. That is far
below the FDA’s level of 1,200 becquerels per kilogram that could
trigger the need for health protections.
Still, it is unusual to see that concentration of Cesium-137 in
shrimp, said Steve Biegalski, a nuclear medicine expert at the
Georgia Institute of Technology.
It’s possible that the contamination could have come from recycling
old medical equipment that contained Cesium-137, Biegalski said. The
material has been used in medical devices to reduce blood
contamination and to treat cancer, for instance.
When such equipment is no longer useful, it can be recycled. But if
the Cesium-137 isn’t properly removed, radioactive material can be
released into the environment.
“If they get broken up in some sort of crushing mechanism, then all
of a sudden, it’s basically a salt,” Biegalski said. “It would be
like you taking a giant salt shaker and spreading it all over the
kitchen floor.”
Containing the contamination is key, and it requires experts who
have the training and expertise to respond, he said.
“It needs to be tracked down, isolated and cleaned up,” Biegalski
said.
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