The comment period on a proposal before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on whether to approve genetically engineered salmon ended at midnight last night after racking up comments from 1.5 million people, according to Food and Water Watch.
The GE salmon, called ”AquAdvantage Salmon,” was created by AquaBounty and can reach market size twice as fast as normal salmon, saving time and resources, the company says. It would be the first GE animal approved for human consumption in the U.S. and would not be requied to be labeled as genetically engineered.
“Nearly 1.5 million people have commented to FDA from a broad spectrum of the public: consumers, scientists, salmon growers, doctors, students, ministers, chefs and Native American groups,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch in a statement. “FDA needs to put interests of the public ahead of those from the biotech industry, which appear to be GE salmon’s only proponents. FDA must put an end to this regulatory mess and acknowledge that the environmental risks and lingering food safety issues don’t justify approving this product.”
Several major retailers including Whole Foods, Aldi and Trader Joe’s have already vowed to keep genetically engineered seafood out of their stores. The retailers are part of “Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood,” a group of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups committed to preventing genetically engineered seafood from entering the marketplace.
