FDA Grants Approval for Genetically Engineered Salmon

The Food and Drug Administration has ruled that genetically engineered salmon are safe to eat, paving the way for the first altered animals to eventually reach supermarket shelves.

The AquAdvantage salmon is an Atlantic salmon that contains artificially-inserted growth hormone genes from Chinook salmon and a genetic promoter from ocean pout (an eel-like fish) that make the salmon grow to market size faster, the FDA said in a statement.

AquaBounty Technologies, a bio engineering company in MA, added a gene to Atlantic salmon that allows it to grow faster than wild or traditional farm-raised Salmon. “The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon”.

The FDA says there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of the AquAdvantage salmon.

The FDA has also said the fish is unlikely to harm the environment.

The scientific community has dismissed most health concerns about consuming genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, but a few environmental groups suggest too many risks remain unknown and unstudied. The fish would be bred to be female and sterile, so if any did escape, they would not be able to breed.

“While FDA will not require that GE [geneticially engineered] salmon steaks be labeled, it is critical that the marketing of GE salmon products be transparent”. “Basically, nothing in the data suggested that these fish were in any way unsafe or different to the farm-raised salmon”, she says.

“The US now imports over 90% of all the seafood, and more specifically over 95% of the Atlantic salmon, it consumes”, AquaBounty stated in a press release.

The first genetically engineered animals cleared for human consumption anywhere on Earth will be available for purchase in the U.S.

Major retailers like Target, Meijer, Aldi, Giant Eagle, Whole Foods and US conventional grocery chains Kroger and Safeway have reportedly agreed not to sell genetically engineered salmon.

Center for Food Safety director Andrew Kimbrell says that his group plans to file suit in order to block the approval.

However, a related issue, labelling of genetically modified ingredients, which the FDA has not mandated, continues to generate controversy. For those concerned about GMOs, fish labeled “wild caught” salmon would be the best choice. The geneticaly modified fish dont have to be labeled.

Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal geneticist at the University of California, Davis, said the FDA decision was “long overdue”.