The Public's Health - August 22, 2025

Welcome back to another week of public health and consumer protection news. This week, I bring you food and product recalls of the shrimp and Labubu variety (plus developments in the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak from last year). There’s also been a global public health victory that I’ve summarized at the end! This is going out at 10 PM on a Friday night, after my afternoon was sabotaged by a cat that rushed into my back door while I was stepping out. What better time for public health news? Let’s get into it.

This is not a joke—you need to ask yourself this question if you bought Great Value brand raw shrimp from Walmart recently. On August 19th, the FDA issued a recall of certain lots of shrimp after finding radioactive cesium contamination in both the shipping containers and the frozen shrimp coming from a food processing company in Indonesia. After the announcement of the recall earlier this week, there have been two additional voluntary shrimp recalls out of an abundance of caution.

This is a developing recall, as the FDA is continuing its investigation. If you bought shrimp from Walmart in July or August, I recommend you check this linked FDA website, which has descriptions of the recall, a list of states where the shrimp could have been on shelves, and the lot numbers and expiration dates for the known contaminated batches. Check your shrimp’s lot numbers and expiration dates on their website, and if you have a contaminated batch, throw that shrimp away! Do NOT eat shrimp from the lots in the above link!!

Thankfully, the FDA is reporting that the overall radiation level in the contaminated shrimp is low. You don’t need to be concerned that holding a bag these frozen shrimp will give you any sort of accidental shrimpy superpowers (or regular cancer—again, don’t eat them!). The FDA also won’t be allowing any products from this company through customs until they have completed a deeper investigation and the company responsible takes appropriate actions to prevent this contamination in the future.

Sometimes, a story like this can be anxiety-inducing: what do you mean my shrimp could be radioactive?? Maybe I should just never eat shrimp again? It’s important to keep in mind, even if this is an unusual food recall, that this is the power of government regulation in action. The FDA claims that no frozen shrimp they’ve tested on Walmart shelves have been positive for cesium, so far. Recalls help keep us safer! Imagine if there was no way to stop these shrimp from being sold. Many could have gotten sick, and many have in the past when regulations are loosened for the sake of big business.

Last year, there was a listeria outbreak caused by Boar’s Head deli meat products. Ten people died. Boar’s Head is known as a premium deli meat brand, though investigations of their meat processing plant revealed unsanitary conditions. After the USDA investigated, they recommended expanding the rules for preventing listeria contamination be expanded and improved. You can read the full report, which is a PDF at the bottom of the above linked page.

The plant linked to the contamination was closed. However, the plant is now slated to reopen this fall with USDA oversight. Maybe Boar’s Head has turned things around? Can we expect the USDA to handle this well?

Well, I’m not enthused about the USDA’s inspections when they are about to undergo an intense reorganization. Per that Politico report, salaries are likely to be cut and employees will be forced to move to new assigned locations or quit. As for Boar’s Head, the Associated Press has obtained government documents that indicate the unsanitary conditions have not been isolated to this one plant. Boar’s Head facilities across three other states have similar unsanitary conditions that lead to the 2024 listeria outbreak!

Consumer protections and regulations are written in blood. The blood of 10 people last year were used to create the new listeria rules. Boar’s Head (and all other meat processors) owe it to their customers to do the right thing, and I don’t know that they will do that any time soon. If they don’t shape up, more could be sickened and killed. These rules for sanitation, when appropriately applied, would protect Boar’s Head from liability. Yet time and time again, businesses say they regret “negative outcomes” from their products while begging for lighter and looser regulations. We the public must keep in mind that regulations protect us and they protect business, lest time and again new rules will be written in blood.

There are several regulatory bodies in the United States federal government that work to prevent exposure to dangerous foods or consumer goods. While the FDA is busy looking for radioactive frozen shrimp and the USDA tangles with Boar’s Head, another agency called the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, issues recalls and warnings when they identify consumer goods as hazardous and harmful.

As far as government agencies go, they have a lovely social media presence. They regularly post new product recalls (spoilers: it’s a lot of dangerous unsecured coin batteries in children’s toys and other battery-powered products that are catch fire and burn people). They also post general safety tips for preventing injuries in your home along with seasonal reminders and warnings aimed to reduce Thanksgiving turkey grease fires or children drowning unsupervised while playing in a pool. Their posts are quirky, but seem to do the trick getting people engaged and listening. I personally love seeing their demos of unsafe turkey frying each fall:

The CPSC is blowing up this week because they have recalled a knockoff Labubu; you can read their lafufu recall page here. With Labubu and lafufu being so trendy, lots of people are clicking on these recall announcements and subsequently learning about the method the CPSC uses to determine if something is small enough to be a choking hazard to young children. How could you not be curious after seeing this grainy image of a lafufu upside down in something called a “small parts cylinder”:

Unfortunately, the Trump administration has been targeting the CPSC. You’d think that it would be impossible for the administration to doggedly go after so many government and non-government organizations in such a short time, but alas, the Trump admin has been allowed by the Supreme Court to fire three of five members of this independent commission created by Congress. Earlier this year, leaked documents also detail the dissolution of the CPSC and a transfer of their responsibilities to the HHS, headed by Public Health Enemy Number 1: RFK Jr. You can read the official report, here.

Many across social media are concerned that this is an end of the consumer product safety in the United States. It doesn’t help when the CPSC breaks from their normal quirky tone to post their new press release titled “CPSC Withdraws Rules That Are Outdated, Fail to Advance Safety; New Leadership Focuses on Hazards That Pose Real Risks.” According to that release, the CPSC will no longer issue a final rule regarding several in-progress rulemakings, including “Safety Standard Addressing Blade-Contact Injuries on Table Saws.” That certainly enraged some on Bluesky claiming to have lost fingers using table saws.

I’ll be keeping an uncomfortable eye on the CPSC. They resumed their normal recall posts after this announcement, so it’s worth paying attention in case the announced recalls affect you. But we can’t think these institutions are permanent just because they’ve done good in the past. Clearly, you can’t be too big to fail if the government itself wants to see itself fail. That may be the biggest lesson of 2025 to come.

The WHO has declared Rubella eliminated in Nepal! Their rubella vaccination program began in 2012 and has used several public outreach programs to get the population the high vaccination rate needed to eliminate a viral disease like rubella.

Rubella is the “R” in “MMR”—an important vaccine that has prevented countless illnesses and death in children around the world. Vaccination rates have slipped in the Americas in recent years, leading to deadly measles outbreaks, including the current outbreak. This victory in Nepal is a reminder that public health is not lost. I believe we can follow suit in increasing our vaccination rates. I’m not sure we will get the opportunity in the Trump administration, but that doesn’t mean measles has simply won.

I hope the successful campaigns in Nepal can be utilized by other countries in the region to similar effect. Congratulations to the people of Nepal for this achievement. Well done!

See you next week for more consumer protections and public health news.