Spawning Disaster: FDA Poised to Approve GMO Salmon
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it will be meeting to discuss approval of the first-ever genetically engineered (GMO) animal intended for human food, a GMO salmon that may soon be on our dinner plates.
But when you’re buying salmon at the store or ordering it in a restaurant, you might never know you could be getting the biotech industry’s Frankenfish – because FDA has repeatedly failed to require labeling of GMO foods.
While there is little data on the safety of GMO salmon, scientists have long warned about the risks of GMO food, including potential allergies, toxicity, and other unexpected effects from the genetic engineering process.
AquaBounty, the company requesting FDA approval for its “AquAdvantage” GE salmon, admits it hasn’t done any animal feeding trials to test for safety of the Frankenfish. As if this wasn’t alarming enough, FDA’s review also fails to consider the potential for dire environmental impacts from GMO salmon.
In fact, we know that raising salmon in fish farms already requires more antibiotics than any other livestock by weight. GMO farmed salmon may be even more susceptible to disease, and thus may require even greater amounts of drugs.
So why should you take action against approval of this risky GMO salmon? Because:
- its long- and short-term health and environmental effects have not been adequately studied;
- it’ll lead to further increased use of antibiotics; and
- the lack of labeling requirements means that, other than eliminating salmon from your diet, you’ll have no sure way to avoid the Frankenfish.