Class action claims frozen shrimp sold at Walmart contained radioactive isotope

Great Value shrimp class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Derrick Young filed a class action lawsuit against Southwind Foods LLC, Beaver Street Fisheries LLC and Walmart Inc. 
• Why: Young claims Great Value frozen shrimp produced by Southwind and Beaver Street and sold at Walmart was contaminated with a radioactive isotope. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

A new nationwide class action lawsuit alleges that Great Value frozen shrimp sold at Walmart was contaminated with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope of the element cesium produced by nuclear fission. 

Plaintiff Derrick Young argues the alleged contamination was not disclosed to consumers, thus making the products improperly, deceptively, and misleadingly labeled and marketed. 

“Consumers like the Plaintiff trust manufacturers such as the Defendants to sell products that are safe and free from known harmful substances, including Cesium-137,” the Great Value class action lawsuit says. 

Young wants to represent a nationwide class and California subclass of consumers who bought allegedly contaminated Great Value frozen shrimp products for personal or household use. 

Great Value frozen shrimp contamination posed cancer risk, class action says 

Young argues even low dosages of Cesium-137 can cause elevated risk of cancer, on account of damage to DNA within living cells of the body. 

The class action lawsuit cites a recall notice issued in August by Beaver Street Fisheries LLC and Southwind Foods LLC, in addition to other testing. According to the recall, the shrimp were processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, an Indonesian company.

The Great Value frozen shrimp recall spanned multiple Walmarts across the United States, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

Despite the recall, Young argues that “the Defendants have designed their recall to ensure that most consumers will be unable to receive relief, provided that they even get notice of the recall.”

Young claims Walmart, Beaver Street and Southwind are guilty of unjust enrichment, negligent omission and breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and in violation of California’s False Advertising Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law. 

The plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for himself and all class members. 

In August, the FDA recalled about 18,000 bags of Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp due to potential contamination with cesium-137, also distributed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati of Indonesia.

Have you purchased Great Value frozen shrimp from Walmart? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Trenton R. Kashima of Bryson Harris Suciu & DeMay PLLC. 

The Great Value class action lawsuit is Young, et al. v. Southwind Foods LLC, et al., Case No. 5:25-cv-02538, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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