It’s unfortunate that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has approved the sale of genetically modified salmon.
As a person from the Seattle area who eats a lot of wild salmon, I find the FDA action ill-advised.
The AquAdvantage salmon is an Atlantic salmon that has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, which allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as a traditional Atlantic salmon. It also contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.
It’s the first genetically engineered food animal approved for sale in the United States.
In addition to approving genetically engineered salmon, the FDA said it doesn’t need to be labeled because it’s nutritionally equivalent to regular salmon. However, AquaBounty Technologies can voluntarily label the salmon its been working to get approval on for years.
Food and Water Watch said genetically engineered fish poses serious risks to the environment and the health of people who eat it. It’s calling on Congress and President Obama to revoke its approval.
The FDA said scientists evaluated data submitted by AquaBounty and other data to assess whether AquAdvantage salmon met the criteria for approval established by law – safety and effectiveness.
The agency said the data demonstrate that the inserted genes remained stable over several generations of fish, that food from the genetically engineered salmon is safe to eat by humans and animals, that the genetic engineering is safe for the fish, and the salmon meets the sponsor’s claim about faster growth.
In addition, the FDA said it looked at the environmental impacts of approving genetically engineered salmon and found that the approval wouldn’t have a significant impact on the environment of the U.S.
“That’s because the multiple containment measures the company will use in the land-based facilities in Panama and Canada make it extremely unlikely that the fish could escape and establish themselves in the wild,” the agency said.
The FDA is releasing two guidance documents on volunteer GE labeling: a draft guidance for labeling of food that comes from Atlantic salmon that has or has not been genetically engineered and a final guidance for labeling of food that has or has not been derived from GE plants.
Starting Monday, Nov. 23, consumers can submit comments on the draft guidance at Regulations.gov.
AquaBounty received stiff opposition to its application to sell genetically engineered salmon.
A coalition of 31 consumer, animal welfare, environmental, and fisheries groups opposed the approval. Among their concerns were that the salmon could escape and possibly outcompete wild salmon for food or mates.
The groups include Center for Food Safety, Food and Water Watch, SalmonAID Foundation, Friends of the Earth, Salmon Fishermen’s Association, Sierra Club, Say No to GMOS, Center for Environmental Health, PCC Natural Markets, Northern Atlantic Marine Alliance, and Organic Consumers Association.
It may be a while before AquaBounty’s GMO salmon will be on the market.
Consumers who want to make sure they aren’t buying genetically engineered fish can choose wild-caught salmon. These fish haven’t been genetically altered.
