How can I buy shrimp that's "safe"?

[no_hypocrisy]

I know it should be wild versus farmed in Indonesia, etc.

But if it's wild and from the Gulf, how do I know that it hasn't been affected by the Deep Water blow-out almost a decade ago? So much oil leaked into the Gulf.

I love shrimp, but I also don't want to go on chemo in the future because I arbitrarily bought fresh shrimp on sale.

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. I am not being snarky, but

unless you don't drive in a vehicle, you take your life in your hands every day.

I ate gulf shrimp yesterday, right off the boat in Bayou la Batre. I never gave it a seconds thought. I honestly don't think you should either.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

3. Respectfully, that sounds a shade reckless. The shear amount of dispersant in the Gulf alone

was frightening, let alone the vast amount of oil. I clearly remember the 'clean-up.' Louisiana has a different standard when it comes to "safe gulf food" i think. I understand it bc, that's their bread and butter, but, I think the OPs concern is well founded. Just bc you can't "taste" the chemicals...doesn't mean they aren't there. Obviously just an opinion, but, I saw the damage myself. Grim is an understatement. Shellfish are suspect for years to come. oil rigs continue to leak in the gulf and the shear volume of them you can see from the beach alone....I dunno.
Additionally, hurricanes flood petro-chemical low-lands from Mississippi to Texas every year..that water drains back out to the Gulf. The warnings are real. Just bc the EPA isn't saying it these days, doesn't mean you don't have a duty to be careful what you eat.
North Eastern Shellfish would be a better bet I'd think. Nothing against LA.

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. We do reckless things every day.

My eating a pound of shellfish once in a while is not going to be what kills me.

[Phoenix61]

2. You don't

Actually, it wasn't the oil that caused so much of the damage to sealife, it was the dispersants they used to get rid of it. Best analogy I've read is it's like cleaning the floor with acid then being surprised when it gets eaten away.

[flamin lib]

5. Shrimp have a very short lifespan. That means they don't store as

much pollutant as longer lived seafood. Even with the severe pollution near the coast around the refineries in Texas shrimp is "safer" than larger species like redfish and such. I wouldn't touch a wild caught redfish from the surf near Texas City with a dirty hoe handle.

When it comes to Indonesian shrimp I won't buy them because a lot of the fisheries use child labor, as young as 10, and occasionally one of them washed up on a beach. I'm sure not all suppliers use child labor but until that industry cleans itself up I want no part of it.

Gulf (of Mexico) shrimp should be safe not because of a total absence of pollutants but because they are harvested 50-60 miles off shore and they don't live long enough to concentrate pollutants.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. And eating Texas Gulf shrimp.

[dem in texas]

6. Eat the Shrimp

Think of all the other chemicals we are exposed to from supermarket foods, eating gulf shrimp is minor. Drinking sugar laden soft drinks is far worse.in the scheme of things.

I bought some large size USA wild caught shrimp earlier this week. Made some New Orleans style barbeque shrimp, so good.