Five years ago, the FDA’s scientific advisers concluded that the genetically modified fish, known as AquaAdvantage salmon, is safe to eat and won’t harm the environment. The Canadian facility will keep the breeding stock, and the Panama site will be used to raise the fish to market-size. In addition, the FDA determined that food from AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe to eat and as nutritious as food from other non-GE Atlantic salmon and that there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.
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Federal health officials approved on Thursday a MA company’s request to produce genetically modified salmon, making it the first genetically modified food available for human consumption in the United States. This unfortunate, historic decision disregards the vast majority of consumers, many independent scientists, numerous members of Congress and salmon growers around the world, who have voiced strong opposition.
A kind of salmon that’s been genetically modified so that it grows faster may be on the way to a supermarket near you. But the agency said Thursday the fish is safe to eat. “We urge President Obama to overturn FDA’s approval and stop GMO salmon from reaching consumers’ dinner plates”.
The FDA also says there’s no reason why the fish needs to be labeled as different from any other salmon in the supermarket. That means once the salmon reach stores, consumers may not even know they are eating them.
Just hours after the announcement, another advocacy group, The Center for Food Safety, said it would sue FDA to block the approval.
The FDA said the salmon will be allowed to be raised only in land-based, contained hatchery tanks at two facilities in Canada and Panama, and that other facilities in the USA or elsewhere can not breed or raise the salmon for human consumption. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a very small percentage might still be able to breed. The company has jumped through all sorts of hoops to make sure that its fish can not escape and that it is nutritionally identical to regular salmon. As a result, the fish will not have to be labeled as a genetically engineered product, agency officials said. The other is a final guidance on voluntary labeling indicating whether food has or has not been derived from genetically engineered plants.
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“We recognize that a few 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.
