© Andrew West/The News-Press/USA Today Network + © Bob Self/ Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, NY) – There’s no shortage of food-based weirdness going on these days. We’ve already had the bird flu, and the resulting spike in egg prices. But those were pretty garden variety in comparison to radioactive shrimp and blue pork. What’s that now?
Yes. The hogs in California are being hunted and found with bright blue flesh. And down in Houston, Texas — at the port — the FDA is warning of radioactive shrimp being found in shipping containers. This situation has impacted shrimp sold at Walmart — under the Great Value brand. A recall has been issued.
The issue stems from possible contamination from Cesium-137 contamination, a radioactive isotope. Cesium-137 is created in nuclear reactors and weapons testing. It’s used in cancer therapy, industrial gauges, and scientific research.
Frozen shrimp from a distributor has tested positive, but the FDA says no shrimp that has tested positive has entered the US food supply.
As for the pigs or hogs with blue flesh out in California? That’s the result of the war on rats. The wild pigs are showing blue flesh because they’ve consumed anticoagulant rodenticide baits. The rat poison contains the chemical diphacinone — which is often mixed with blue dye to mark it as bait. That’s then ingested by the pigs, and the blue pigment stains their flesh. Hunters are killing them and then discovering the tainted flesh.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed this issue after hunters reported it. And what’s more — the concern can’t be eliminated by cooking the meat. So if you see any blue pork — stay away.
