Federal regulators reportedly announced yet another food recall on Friday, this time targeting frozen shrimp sold at Walmart after the detection of cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.
The move marks the third shrimp recall in a month linked to imports from Indonesia and underscores mounting questions about the federal government’s handling of food safety oversight and America’s reliance on foreign seafood.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that 26,460 six-ounce packages of AquaStar Corp. cocktail shrimp are being recalled after concerns of contamination.
The shrimp, packaged in a clear plastic tray with a red-and-white label, were sold in Walmart stores across 29 states, including major markets in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, and Washington, between July 31 and August 16, 2025.
According to the agency, cesium can exist in the environment at low levels. But repeated exposure through tainted food or water can pose an “elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body.”
So far, no illnesses have been reported.
The recall applies to products with UPC 19434612191 and lot codes 10662 5106, 10662 5107, 10662 5124, and 10662 5125. The product carried a 12-day shelf life.
Consumers are being urged not to eat the shrimp and to either return it to Walmart for a refund or dispose of it. AquaStar has provided a hotline, 1-800-331-3440, for questions during business hours.
The announcement comes just days after Walmart was forced to pull three lots of its Great Value frozen shrimp, also linked to Indonesian imports, after federal officials detected cesium-137 in both shipping containers and a breaded shrimp sample.
For many, the situation highlights a troubling vulnerability: the United States continues to rely heavily on imported seafood, even as federal agencies repeatedly scramble to contain safety lapses after products have already reached store shelves.
Conservatives argue that recalls like this one expose failures in the Biden administration’s regulatory priorities, with critics questioning why contamination was not detected earlier in the supply chain.
Although the FDA has said that cesium can be present at “low levels,” the agency nonetheless warned that persistent exposure could prove dangerous. That contradiction, some say, reflects a lack of transparency. American consumers are left to weigh the risks after buying food already cleared for sale in one of the nation’s largest retailers.
The recall also raises questions about why more scrutiny is not being applied to foreign imports. Despite America’s ability to produce safe seafood domestically, Walmart and other major retailers continue to stock products from countries like Indonesia, where standards vary widely.
For conservatives focused on supply-chain resilience, the case is further evidence that Washington should prioritize American producers and stop putting families at risk with questionable imports.
For now, the FDA has limited its advice to discarding the contaminated shrimp. But the incident is unlikely to fade quickly, as lawmakers and consumers alike ask whether this latest recall is a symptom of a broader failure in the nation’s food safety regime.
[READ MORE: Trump Ends Secret Service Protection for Kamala Harris, Revoking Biden’s Extension]
