The FDA is warning consumers not to eat certain frozen shrimp products from Walmart and its Great Value brand over fears that the food product might be irradiated.

Reports of the possible radioactive Walmart shrimp started going viral last week and have since become one of the biggest memes of August 2025.

But how exactly did the Walmart shrimp get contaminated with radiation, and how did the memes get so big? Here's what we know.

What Is The 'Radioactive Walmart Shrimp' Memes?

On August 19th, 2025, the FDA announced a recall of certain Great Value frozen shrimp products. If you didn't know, Great Value is a brand owned and sold by Walmart.

According to the report, certain bags of frozen shrimp possibly came in contact with Cesium-137, a radioactive material that could be harmful to people, especially if eaten.

The fears arose after several bags of the frozen shrimp tested positive for the material after inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Very little is known about exactly how or why the shrimp came in contact with Cesium-137. Apparently, this is an ongoing problem, because on August 22nd, the FDA posted an update to the report claiming that more frozen shrimp from an Indonesian supplier, PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, also tested positive for radiation.

Now, the internet is doing what it does best and turning the whole situation into a meme.

How Is 'Radioactive Walmart Shrimp' Used In Memes?

It didn't even take a day for memes about radioactive Walmart shrimp to start popping up online and across social media in late August 2025.

Most of these memes are about the effects that eating radioactive shrimp might have on a person. This includes jokes about becoming a superhero after eating them, kind of like Spider-Man, while others joke that you might start glowing if you ingest enough of the shrimp.

The memes are also going viral on TikTok. For example, one user created an edit consisting of shrimp images to the much-memed song "Radioactive" by the band Imagine Dragons that gained over 4 million views in just a few days.

Another TikToker made a whole AI music parody song of The Buggles hit track "Video Killed the Radio Star" featuring lyrics about the radioactive shrimp.

@omni.man84 idk wht to edit anymore #shrimp#walmar#fyp#meme#xyzbca ♬ original sound – ⦻drealX edits⦻

What Are Some More 'Radioactive Walmart Shrimp' Memes?

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For the full history of Radioactive Walmart Shrimp, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.