Sen. John Kennedy (LA-R) took the floor this week to compare the effects of recently recalled radioactive shrimp to … the Chestbursters from the “Alien” franchise?
Kennedy made this comparison during a Senate hearing on contaminated water and said the effects of tainted seafood – like the shrimp that was recalled from Walmart shelves in July for being potentially radioactive – could have monstrous effects similar to the Xenomorph transformations in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror franchise.
“This is a photograph of the alien from the movie ‘Alien,’” Kennedy said, pulling up an image of a Chestburster. “This is what you could end up looking like if you eat some of the raw frozen shrimp being sent to the U.S. by other countries.”
He added: “How could you end up looking like the alien in the ‘Alien?’ Because the shrimp was radioactive. I kid you not. It has a radioactive isotope in it called Cesium-137. It’ll kill you! Even if it doesn’t turn you into the alien, if you eat this stuff, I guarantee it’ll grow you an extra ear.”
Watch the clip via C-SPAN and X user @Acyn here.
Over the summer, Florida-based Beaver Street Fisheries recalled 33,164 pounds of frozen shrimp that might have contained some packages contaminated with Cesium-137 – a radioisotope created during nuclear fission. The recalled food reportedly sat on Walmart shelves between July 8 and July 28.
Both the FDA and Beaver Street Fisheries issued statements in mid-August addressing the possible contamination.
“At this time, no product that has tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 (Cs-137) has entered the U.S. commerce,” the FDA statement read.
“Traces of Cs-137 are widespread and can be present in the environment at background levels, and at higher levels in water or foods grown, raised, or produced in areas with environmental contamination,” a Beaver Street Fisheries statement on the FDA website said. “The primary health effect of concern following longer term, repeated low dose exposure (e.g., through consumption of contaminated food or water over time) is an elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body.”
