First Genetically Engineered Animal Approved for Human Consumption

To approve an engineered animal for human consumption, the agency reviews a company’s data and must determine that the food is safe to eat, that the engineering is safe for the fish and that the company’s claim – in this case, faster growth – is accurate.

“The FDA has 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 in a statement, coming after five years of deliberations, reported NBC News.

They have also expressed concern that the salmon could pose risks to other fish if it were to escape into the environment.

Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network said the approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon means production of the fish eggs could ramp up at the AquaBounty facility in Souris, P.E.I.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the scientific evidence, the FDA determined that AquAdvantage Salmon meets the statutory requirements for safety and effectiveness under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The AquAdvantage contains a gene from its close cousin, the Chinook salmon, as well as a bit of molecular machinery, taken from the ocean pout fish, which turns on the growth gene year-round, instead of only in the warmer months.

FDA spokeswoman Juli Putman said AquaBounty first began a conversation with FDA in the mid-1990s. He repeatedly has pushed for delays in the FDA approval process, telling The Washington Post in a 2012 interview that he hoped such hurdles eventually would “break that company”. There has been, however, significant concern that the faster-growing fish could crossbreed with wild salmon species, diluting and perverting an already shrinking gene pool. If these fish got out into the ocean or got out into ecosystems what would happen?

“People do not want to eat this fish”, Perls says. “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”, Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, said in a news release.

If, for whatever reason, you’d really prefer not to eat the salmon, the FDA said you can always stick with “wild-caught salmon”. Large grocery retailers like Whole Foods and Kroger have policies against selling genetically engineered seafood, according to the activist group Friends of the Earth, which opposes genetically modified food.

The FDA has limited the salmon to be grown at two land-based facilities that are tightly concealed, one on Vancouver Island, Canada and the other in Panama.

Finally, the guidance states, labels should disclose the fact that a food is produced from genetically engineered plants to create significantly different nutritional properties, such as boosting the amount of a specific vitamin or mineral in an ingredient. The company will also use only female fish that are sterile so breeding in the wild is also unlikely.