These
are strange times indeed for GMO!
It's
very strange to see the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approve GMO
(Generically Modified) Salmon on as noted on Thursday November 19th 2015
as reported in the article “The
FDA just granted approval to a fast-growing genetically modified Salmon species”,
published November 20, 2015 Ed Oswald, Digitaltrends.
The
approval was handed down for a specific breed of genetically modified Salmon
made by AquaBounty Technologies, making them the first to get approval for a
GMO as noted in the article “Salmon
is first transgenic animal to win US approval for food”, published 19
November 2015 by Heidi Ledford, Nature.
They’d submitted the concept back in 1995 and it has basically been 20 years of
deliberations within the FDA before they lived at their decision.
Not
only are the Salmon declared safe to eat, but there is apparently no
requirement by the FDA for AquaBounty Technologies to label AquaBounty’s Salmon,
only that they be kept in inland storage tanks.
AquaBounty Technologies
GMO AquaAdvantage Salmon – Why GMO Salmon in the Wild will be an Ecological
Disaster
This
is because the FDA says no real difference between the GMO Salmon and
traditional Salmon, to quote from their website: “Because the data and
information evaluated show that AquAdvantage Salmon is not materially different
from other Atlantic Salmon, the FDA has determined that no additional labeling
of food from AquaAdvantage Salmon is required”.
AquaBounty
Technologies states that these GMO Salmon are genetic cross between Atlantic
and Chinook breeds. They are also enhanced with growth factors in their
genetics and can grow to full size in eighteen (18) months rather than the
three (3) years it takes traditional Atlantic Salmon.
AquaBounty
Technologies argues that this means that the Salmon are more efficient and thus
use less feed to grow, reducing the turnaround time for farmers as well as
their carbon footprint.
What
worries me and others concerned about GMO's is that these Salmon, if they
escape from their inland storage tanks and into the wild, can grow rapidly and
outcompete fish in the local ecosystem for food just like the oversized
Goldfish in the River of Australia as based on research by Murdoch University
as noted in my blog
article entitled “Murdoch
University says Goldfish Destroy Freshwater Ecosystems - Why Jamaica must avoid
Goldfish becoming Kingpins in our Rivers”.
On
this basis alone Center for Food Safety director Andrew Kimbrell will be filing
a lawsuit against AquaBounty Technologies, quote: “The review process by FDA
was inadequate, failed to fully examine the likely impacts of the Salmon’s
introduction, and lacked a comprehensive analysis. This decision sets a
dangerous precedent, lowering the standards of safety in this country”.
After
all, if you cannot tell them apart from real Salmon and they can grow twice as
fast, if they escape into the wild, they'd be the equivalent of goldfish
competing with local species and driving them to extinction.
No comments:
Post a Comment