“The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat”, Bernadette Dunham, DVM, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in the release.
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The US Food and Drug Administration approved of genetically engineered salmon for human consumption on Thursday.
The FDA will offer the public a chance to voice those concerns during the public comment period of their pending approval.
The FDA, however, is not requiring such labeling, which is consistent with the agency’s stance on genetically-modified crops.
The salmon decision was a long time coming – AquaBounty began developing its salmon in the 1990s – and it may do little to quiet a debate over genetically modified plants and animals that has been rising among consumers, grocers, scientists and industry.
However, even with the FDA’s careful deliberation and approval, as well as the safety measures presented, The Center for Food Safety had already expressed its concern over the agency’s decision to approve the AguaAdvantage Salmon.
“GE salmon will do nothing to help habitat or otherwise address these problems, and depending on how GE salmon are produced, could represent a new threat to wild populations very much like salmon farms do now”, said Joseph Bogaard, director of the Seattle-based Save Our Wild Salmon.
Critics have pressured retailers to reject the salmon, which they have labeled “Frankenfish”. “The FDA is issuing two guidance documents that explain how food companies that want to voluntarily label their products can provide this information to consumers”.
Coincidentally, the Canadian government recently approved the manufacture of genetically engineered salmon eggs, which environmental groups in that country claim was done secretly and in violation of Canadian environmental protection laws, according to a report from Common Dreams.
“When you’re the first and only, labeling is a unsafe decision”, AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish. Its advantage is that it grows more quickly because of extra genes from two other fish (including the Pacific Chinook salmon).
For now, the fish is grown only in facilities in Panama and Canada, and it could be years before it is widely available to American consumers.
“The flesh is exquisite”, Henry wrote.
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The FDA adds in the press release that the AquaAdvantage Salmon is as nutritious as the not genetically engineered farm-raised Atlantic salmon.
