FDA Sampling of Indonesian Shrimp Confirms Short-Weighting Risk
September 3, 2025 | 6 min to read
The FDA revealed alarming results from its seafood sampling, finding that 36 percent of tested products were short-weighted, particularly among imported shrimp. Out of sixteen Indonesian shrimp samples, half were found to have up to 9.9 percent added bulk, while no Ecuadorian shrimp sampled were short-weighted. The findings underscore the agency's commitment to combatting economically motivated adulteration, with ongoing scrutiny of seafood imports to protect consumers against deception, as emphasized by industry leaders.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released the results of the agency’s sampling of seafood to test for economically motivated adulteration through short-weighting. The practice of overstating the net quantity of the content of the seafood, such as including the weight of ice glaze in addition to the seafood itself, is a form of economically motivated adulteration resulting in consumers receiving significantly less product than what is listed on the packaging.
The FDA’s announcement indicates that between 2022 and 2024, the agency found that ten (10) out of twenty-eight (28) seafood products tested – or 36 percent – were found to be short-weighted.
Describing the methodology behind the sampling, the FDA observed that the program overwhelmingly focused on imported shrimp. In total, twenty-five (25) samples of shrimp were taken, as well as two (2) samples of squid, and one sample of tilapia. Samples were drawn from product originating from twelve (12) different seafood exporters in four countries: China, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The FDA’s specific findings note that the twenty-five (25) shrimp samples were taken from just two (2) countries, with tests conducted regarding shrimp from four (4) different Ecuadorian exporters and five (5) different Indonesian exporters.
A total of nine (9) different samples of Ecuadorian shrimp were tested by the FDA, of which none were found to be short-weighted.
On the other hand, the FDA tested sixteen (16) samples of Indonesian shrimp and found half of these to be short-weighted, with up to 9.9 percent of added bulk. The FDA’s reporting also highlighted that the short-weighting discovered was firm-specific, with two (2) of the Indonesian exporters (firm “G” and “I”) having five (5) shipments sampled with no findings of short-weighting, while two (2) other exporters (firm “H” and “J”) had six (6) shipments sampled and all six (6) were found to be short-weighted. The fifth Indonesian exporter (firm “K”) had a total of five (5) shipments tested of which two (2) were found to be short-weighted.
The sampling results announced by the FDA are consistent with actions the agency has taken at the border over the last couple of years. The FDA first reported refusing a shipment of shrimp for “added bulk” (Charge Code = 315) in May 2024. The refused import entry was from the Indonesian shrimp exporter Mega Marine Pride. Since then, the FDA has reported refusing another thirty-one (31) entry lines of Indonesian shrimp for “added bulk,” of which another eleven (11) originated from Mega Marine Pride, twelve (12) were from PT Bumi Pangan Utama, and the remaining eight (8) were shipped by PT. First Marine Seafoods.
In releasing information regarding the FDA sampling program, the agency explained that these “results reaffirm the need for the FDA to continue to test frozen (ice glazed) fishery products (e.g., shrimp, squid, fish fillets) for economically motivated adulteration to ensure consumers are not deceived.”
The FDA’s announcement did not explain why the sampling program was limited to shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia. However, last week, for the first time, the FDA reported refusing an entry line of shrimp for “added bulk” from a country other than Indonesia when a shipment from India’s Asvini Fisheries Private Limited was refused on August 27, 2025 by the Division of Southeast Imports.
Currently, there are three (3) firms listed on Import Alert 99-47, Detention Without Physical Examination of Human Food Products That Appear to Be Adulterated for Economic Gain, for their shipments of shrimp: India’s Asvini Fisheries Private Limited (added August 6, 2025) and Indonesia’s PT Bumi Pangan Utama (added May 16, 2025) and PT. First Marine Seafoods (added August 1, 2025). Other than these firms, just three (3) other companies are currently listed on Import Alert 99-47 for seafood: two companies from China and one exporter from Vietnam for shipments of squid. Issues with economically motivated adulteration for other food products appear to have been addressed more aggressively by the FDA, as there are honey exporters from fourteen (14) different countries currently listed on Import Alert 99-47 for economically motivated adulteration.
“No one involved in selling shrimp in the U.S. market can be surprised to learn that imported shrimp is routinely short-weighted,” said John Williams, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “When you are forced to compete on price with foreign industries that routinely abuse banned antibiotics in their shrimp ponds and tolerate slave labor in their supply chains, selling water may be the only way to maintain a market presence. Once again, the FDA’s sampling results demonstrate that the seafood importing industry will not regulate itself, and consumers will continue to be ripped off, until meaningful oversight of shrimp imports is implemented.”
About the Southern Shrimp Alliance
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the domestic industry in the eight warmwater shrimp producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.