FDA Approves Genetically Engineered Salmon for Consumption, Labeling Not Required

The FDA said it approved AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon, an Atlantic salmon that reaches market size more quickly than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

The FDA said Thursday that its decision was “based on sound science and a comprehensive review”, and that regulators are confident that the genetically altered fish is as safe to eat as a normal Atlantic salmon, with no discernible difference in its nutritional value.

But in an apparent concession to consumers who want to stay away from genetically engineered foods, the FDA also released draft recommendations Thursday to help guide food companies that want to tell consumers if their foods – plants or animals – have or have not been genetically modified. AquaBounty said it will take about two years for the salmon to hit the market, once distribution methods are sorted out. The AquAdvantage Salmon needed to be safe to eat for humans and animals first and foremost.

Food and Water Watch in the States panned the approval, saying the decision “disregards AquaBounty’s disastrous environmental record, which greatly raises the stakes for an environmentally damaging escape of GM salmon”.

A couple of years from now, the salmon on your dinner plate may be genetically modified.

So the FDA approved the salmon for sale.

The officials said the fish would not have to be labeled as being genetically engineered, a policy consistent with its stance on foods made from genetically engineered crops.

AquAdvantage Salmon was created by AquaBounty.

Environmental groups immediately said they’d sue, and numerous stores, from Trader Joe’s to Target, said they had no intention of selling it. Critics anxious mostly that the fish would escape and breed with wild fish. The salmon is produced by AquaBounty Technologies. In fact, under this approval, no other facilities or locations, in the United States or elsewhere, are authorized for breeding or raising AquAdvantage Salmon that are intended for marketing as food to USA consumers.

The FDA will have oversight of the production and facilities, measures to prevent escape of fish and eggs are in place, and all the fish are reproductively sterile.

The federal approval of the GMO salmon and the lack of labeling requirements have sparked outrage and opposition by a number of food, health and environmental advocates.

Though no law will require GM salmon, or products containing GM salmon, to be labeled as such, the FDA issued two documents guiding manufacturers on how to inform their customers of the presence of genetically modified ingredients.