Between August and September 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued multiple recalls for shrimp imported from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods), an Indonesian supplier. These shrimp products were sold at Walmart, Kroger and Kroger-owned stores, Aquastar, Southwind Foods and other retailers across 31+ states. The concern? Possible exposure to Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.
If you are unfamiliar with Cesium 137 (Cs-137), it is a man-made byproduct of nuclear fission. Cesium 137 has many uses in larger amounts, such as medical radiation therapy devices to treat cancer, medical sterilization, industrial gauges that detect the flow of liquid through pipes and many other industrial devices used to measure the thickness of various materials. When in use, Cs-137 is often encased in lead or other shielding materials to prevent exposure.
If ingested, Cs-137 can cause DNA damage, radiation sickness and pose long-term health risks. While the FDA confirmed that no shrimp testing positive for Cs-137 “entered U.S. market”, the recall was still advised due to unsanitary conditions at the BMS Foods facility.
A lot of reactions have spawned from the whole recall fiasco, including Senator John Kennedy’s (R-LA) warning on the Senate floor about the shrimp. He warns that consuming the shrimp could turn a person into the chestbuster–an immature, worm-like infant form of the Xenomorph XX121, featured in the Alien 1979 film. His exact words were:
“If you eat it, how could you end up looking like the alien in “Alien”, because the shrimp is radioactive. I kid you not, it had a radioactive isotope in it called Cesium 137. It will kill you. Even if it doesn’t turn you to the alien, if you eat this stuff. I guarantee you will grow an extra ear.”
The phrase “Radioactive Shrimp from Walmart” started circulating online because Walmart’s Great Value was the first brand named in the FDA’s recall back in August. The internet did what it does best: someone turned the absurdity into music. Though there’s no official song, a parody track titled “Radioactive Shrimp from Walmart” surfaced on YouTube and TikTok. This is a link and QR code to the song on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHRpuKOwKw&list=RDxcHRpuKOwKw&start_radio=1.
Here’s a curated selection of memes from a few social media platforms. Usernames have been blurred or omitted to protect privacy. The internet did not disappoint…
