That’s an important thing to note, considering that federal regulators just found potential radioactive contamination in imported Indonesian cloves last week. This alarming discovery comes on the heels of a major shrimp recall over similar sanitation issues. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detected cesium 137, a radioactive isotope, in a sample of cloves. Through PT Natural Java Spice, these cloves were then exported. This is just one of the companies that have shipped a total of about 440,000 pounds (200,000 kilograms) of cloves to the United States this year.
Cesium 137 is one of a number of byproducts from nuclear reaction, including from nuclear bomb testing and running nuclear reactors. It can be a serious health threat if people breathe in small amounts for long periods. FDA officials have repeatedly stated that the risk of contamination is very low. The lucky coincidence of this detection makes for a very important point about our food safety regulations, inspections, and monitoring.
The buds—commonly thought of as the cloves of the spice—were exported from Indonesia. According to local media, the processing facilities are separated by roughly 500 miles (800 kilometers). This geographical distance raises questions about where the contamination they’ve identified is coming from. The FDA reassured us again that no food products that tested positive for cesium 137 have been allowed to reach the U.S. market. This consumer confidence is important for keeping consumers feeling secure about their food.
This finding comes just after a series of shrimp recalls. That’s exactly what happened to hundreds of thousands of packages sold at one of the major grocery chains we frequent, Kroger. It is possible these shrimp were produced in such an environment that permitted cesium 137 contamination. PT Bahari Makmuri Sejati (BMS Foods) produces roughly 6% of the foreign shrimp that enter the U.S. In August, Indonesian nuclear regulators found cesium 137 at a facility in Cikarang, an industrial area outside Jakarta, prompting the Department of Agriculture to place an import alert on the company.
International Atomic Energy Agency investigations suggest that cesium 137 at the shrimp processing plant came from contaminated scrap metal. They think melted down metal from a local industrial facility may be behind the contamination. There is even greater worry that contamination may result from recycling old medical equipment that previously contained the radioactive isotope.
This is the fourth recall since August by firms in response to potential cesium 137 contamination of shrimp products. These recalls highlight the extreme haste of public health response to address food safety concerns. We need to stop letting imported products skirt our tough health standards.
