October 4, 2025 | 09:10 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new Import Alert #99-52 on October 3, 2025, following the trace of Cesium 137 (Cs-137) contamination in several shipments of shrimp and cloves from Indonesia.
The import alert will take effect on October 31, especially for all shrimp and spice products originating from Java Island and the province of Lampung, Sumatra, which can only enter the U.S. market if accompanied by official certification from the Indonesian government.
"The FDA has made the determination that Cesium-137 (Cs-137) is a known safety risk in certain food from Indonesia and that there is a known safety risk associated with certain regions of origin in Indonesia," as stated in the official document of Import Alert #99-52 published on October 3, 2025.
In the report, the FDA mentioned that the alleged sources of contamination include the discovery of radioactive waste, Cs-137, in Batan Indah Housing, South Tangerang, Banten. Additionally, there were findings of radioactive dust from metal smelting facilities, as well as the potential danger of contamination in Java Island and Lampung Province in Sumatra.
The FDA has placed a red list on two Indonesian companies whose products are confirmed to be contaminated with Cs-137, namely PT Natural Java Spice (Surabaya, East Java) and PT Bahari Makmur Sejati (Serang, Banten). Therefore, products from these companies are automatically seized without physical examination and can only be removed from the list after undergoing third-party certification audits recognized by the FDA.
Furthermore, all shipments of shrimp and spices from Java and Lampung will be placed on the yellow list, so every shipment must be accompanied by official certification from Indonesian government agencies designated by the FDA.
Previously, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigated the contamination of Cesium-137 in frozen shrimp products belonging to PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (BMS Foods) last August. This came after the discovery by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the presence of radioactive Cs-137 in the shipping containers of the frozen shrimp products at four U.S.: Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami.
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