On 18 August 2025, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement that shipments of shrimp from Indonesia produced by PT BMS (Bahari Makmur Sejati) had been contaminated by caesium-137. This initial report indicated that none of the contaminated shrimp had entered the marketplace; an update, on 19 August, stated that three batches sold under the Walmart store brand Great Value had been distributed after a lack of prior detection; in all, shipments of contaminated shrimp had arrived at ports Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Savannah. The contaminated shrimp were recalled by Walmart. Further recalls were issued on August 21 by Southwind Foods of Carson, California and Beaver Street Fisheries of Jacksonville, Florida.
The contaminated shrimp had been processed by Indonesian seafood supplier Bahari Makmur Sejati (more familiarly known as BMS), all of whose shipping containers were promptly placed on the FDA's seldom-used Import Alert 99-51 list (or "Hot List") and summarily denied entry to the U.S.
The FDA's threshold for mandatory action is 1200 becquerels per kilogram. The contaminated shrimp was at...