The FDA, though, agreed with the Massachusetts-based manufacturer AquaBounty, finding the fish pose little risk to the environment because they would be reared in closed, land-based facilities in Canada and Panama.
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Some of the requirements for the approval of the GE salmon was that it be safe to eat, the rDNA construct (that DNA trait that makes the salmon grow faster) is safe for the fish itself and that the salmon meet AquaBounty’s claims of faster growth. The company’s process allowed the AquAdvantage salmon to grow faster, shortening the three year growth cycle of the farmed Atlantic salmon to just 16 to 18 months.
This is the first genetically modified food animal approved for sale in the world. If consumers want to avoid it, they can choose wild-caught salmon, the FDA said on a conference call with reporters Thursday.
But consumers may not know they are having GM fish because the FDA says there are no material differences between engineered and normal salmon and the law does not require fish to be labelled as engineered. And a few retailers have said they won’t sell it at all – spokespeople for Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target and Kroger have all said they are not planning to sell AquAdvantage Salmon.
Since 2010, the Obama administration has been reluctant to approve the fish, dubbed AquaAdvantage Salmon, for human consumption because of uncertainties over its safety.
Selling genetically modified plants and animals as food has been, at times, a controversial topic.
In either case, the FDA now says studies indicate the genetically modified salmon is safe to eat, but some national grocery stores have vowed not to sell it.
First created in 1989 and submitted to the agency for approval in 1995, the Atlantic salmon are modified to carry a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon.
The agency added that “multiple and redundant levels of physical barriers” will be in place to prevent the fish from escaping.
The FDA said Thursday that its decision, two decades in the making, was “based on sound science and a comprehensive review”, and that regulators are confident “that food from the fish is safe to eat”.
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“We recognize that some consumers are interested in knowing whether food ingredients are derived from GE sources”, said Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The only way to be sure that salmon you’re eating is not genetically modified is to buy “wild caught salmon”, she said.
