WASHINGTON – Fish or frankenfish? A Massachusetts company wants to market a genetically engineered version of Atlantic salmon, and regulators are weighing the request.
If approval is given, it would be the first time the government allowed such modified animals to join the foods that go onto the nation's dinner tables.
The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve what would be the nation’s first commercial genetically modified food animal.
“This is the threshold case. If it’s approved, there will be others,” said Eric Hallerman, head of the fisheries and wildlife sciences department at Virginia Tech University. “If it’s not, it’ll have a chilling effect for years.”
Part of the hearing is focusing on labeling of the fish. It is possible that if the modified salmon is approved, consumers would not even know they were eating it. Current FDA regulations require modified foods to be labeled as such only if the food is substantially different from the conventional version, and the agency has said that the modified salmon is essentially the same as the Atlantic salmon.
If approved, the fish could be in grocery stores in two years, the company estimates.
Source: Yahoo News, APIf approval is given, it would be the first time the government allowed such modified animals to join the foods that go onto the nation's dinner tables.
- Ron Stotish, CEO of AquaBounty, said at Monday's first of two days of hearings that his company's fish product is safe and environmentally sustainable.
- The firm has developed genetically engineered salmon that reach market weight in half the usual time. What’s more, it hopes to avoid the pollution, disease and other problems associated with saltwater fish farms by having its salmon raised in inland facilities.
The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve what would be the nation’s first commercial genetically modified food animal.“This is the threshold case. If it’s approved, there will be others,” said Eric Hallerman, head of the fisheries and wildlife sciences department at Virginia Tech University. “If it’s not, it’ll have a chilling effect for years.”
- Some in the fish farming industry are leery of the move toward engineered fish. “No! It is not even up for discussion,” Jorgen Christiansen, director of communications for Oslo-based Marine Harvest, one of the world’s largest salmon producers.
- Food and Drug Administration officials have largely agreed with him, saying that the salmon, which grows twice as fast as its conventional "sisters," is as safe to eat as the traditional variety. But they have not yet decided whether to approve the request.
- Critics call the modified salmon a "frankenfish" that could cause allergies in humans and the eventual decimation of the wild salmon population. An FDA advisory committee is reviewing the science of the genetically engineered fish this week and hearing such criticisms as the agency ponders approval.
Whether the public will have an appetite for it is another matter. Genetic engineering is already widely used for crops, but the government until now has not considered allowing the consumption of modified animals. Although the potential benefits — and profits — are huge, many people have qualms about manipulating the genetic code of other living creatures.
Part of the hearing is focusing on labeling of the fish. It is possible that if the modified salmon is approved, consumers would not even know they were eating it. Current FDA regulations require modified foods to be labeled as such only if the food is substantially different from the conventional version, and the agency has said that the modified salmon is essentially the same as the Atlantic salmon.If approved, the fish could be in grocery stores in two years, the company estimates.
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