Several consumer and food safety groups, including Ecology Action Centre, Ecojustice, and Living Oceans Society are challenging the Canadian government's approval of AquaBounty's genetically engineered salmon. This new fish threatens native species, according to those groups. The lawsuit was filed today in Canadian court. Karen Wristen, Executive Director of the Living Oceans Society in B.C. said in a statement, "this is the world's first genetically modified food animal to go into production. This was done without any public debate at all and under circumstances that look like a deliberate attempt to prevent public comment. Canadians have a right to know about decisions like this in advance of them being made." AquaBounty is planning to grow the GE salmon eggs in Prince Edward … [Read more...]
1.5 Million People Weigh In On GE Salmon, Nonprofit Says
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 … [Read more...]
Food Safety Review of Genetically Engineered Salmon
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has published a review on the safety of genetically engineered salmon. Scientists are currently experimenting on more than 35 species of fish. They are using genes from other fish, coral, mice, bacteria, and people to produce new breeds of transgenic fish that grow faster, are resistant to disease, and tolerate wide temperature ranges. The FDA is currently considering GE salmon produced by AquaBounty for approval. The Atlantic salmon has growth hormone from the Chinook salmon and anti-freeze DNA from an Arctic eelpout spliced into its DNA. The fish may grow up to twice as fast as conventionally raised Atlantic salmon. CFS says that the problems with the altered fish start with how government assesses risks. They use old laws and a low level of … [Read more...]
