Two companies have initiated recalls after discovering that shrimp products they distributed were possibly contaminated with radiation.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert this week explaining that customs agents detected radioactive isotope Cesium-137 in shipping containers full of shrimp products at the ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, Georgia, belonging to Indonesian company PT Bahari Makmur Sejati, doing business as BMS Foods.

The FDA’s initial alert mentioned Great Value frozen shrimp sold at Walmart in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Walmart received the shrimp from Beaver Street Fisheries, LLC of Jacksonville, Florida, which initiated a recall on Friday.

In addition, on Thursday, distributor Southwind Foods, LLC, of Carson, California, started a recall of various Sand Bar, Arctic Shores, Best Yet, Great American Seafood Imports Co. and First Street branded shrimp products sold to retailers, wholesalers and other distributors in Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

The full list of Southwinds-distributed products subject to recall can be found on the FDA’s webpage for the recall, including lot and item numbers. 

The FDA said consumers who bought recalled shrimp products should return them to the place of purchase for a refund or throw them away.

No shrimp products that tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 have entered the U.S. food supply or marketplace yet, the FDA said. The recalls affect shrimp products that came from BMS Foods shipments after the initial detection that did not alert for Cesium-137. 

BMS Foods is currently under an FDA import ban until the company fixes the issues that caused the shipping containers to be contaminated.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.