Consumer Law

FDA Considering Approval of First Genetically Modified Animal for Human Consumption

By Brian Wolfman

Salmon grow slowly in the first year of life. Of course, raising them for food would be cheaper if they grew more quickly. But as explained in this article in today's Washington Post  . . .

"AquAdvantage is an Atlantic salmon that has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, which allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as a traditional Atlantic salmon. It also contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon."

AquaBounty, the company that created AquAdvantage, first asked the FDA to approve its genetically engineered "salmon" in 1995. On September 19, 2010, an FDA advisory panel will hold a two-day public hearing to consider whether to recommend FDA approval. Consumer groups are opposed, saying that the public has been kept in the dark:

"'Critical information about the whole process has been kept from the public and organizations that focus on these issues,' said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, part of a coalition of 31 organizations and restaurant chefs that is demanding that the FDA deny approval of the altered fish. 'There's a transparency problem.'"

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on September 07, 2010 (boomark / email).