Consumers mill around grocery stores, reading labels and skimming their options to try and find the best deals. When they reach the fish fillets, they may be in for a surprise: the Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing genetically modified salmon on the market. If approved, the salmon would be the first genetically modified animal available for human consumption in the United States and most likely would not be labeled differently from natural salmon.
The fish, known as AquAdvantage salmon, uses a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and an antifreeze protein from an ocean pout. This enables the modified salmon to grow during the winter as well as the summer, making it grow twice as fast as a genetically unmodified fish. As a result, the salmon can grow to market size in 16-18 months instead of three years, according to The New York Times.
Both the FDA and the Massachusetts-based company that produces the salmon, AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., have said the modified fish is the same as Atlantic salmon and poses no threats to health or to the environment.
John Buchanan, head of research and development at AquaBounty, said he believes the modified fish has many benefits. It could help reduce pollution and disease, as well as provide an alternative source of seafood to help reduce problems caused by overfishing. In addition, other experts have suggested that genetically modified animals could help reduce world hunger.
Nevertheless, there are individuals who believe the salmon could be dangerous. The FDA recently hosted an open panel where 30 different environmentalists, consumer advocates and other groups expressed concern about the possibility of food allergies and the negative repercussions that escaped modified fish could have on the natural population.
Eleven senators have urged the FDA to stop review of the product, ending any consideration for placing it on the market. These politicians - most of whom are from coastal areas - argue that the FDA is treating the organism as a veterinary drug rather than as an animal available for human consumption. In addition, they have said the public has been left out of the discussion, partly because the FDA review process allows a company to keep private some of the information it submits if it is classified business information.
Ben & Jerry's ice cream connoisseurs oppose genetically engineered animals for food as well, and the company's website urges political activism to prevent the FDA from approving the salmon. In an interview with CBC News, CEO Jostein Solheim said, "Today it's a fish that we're talking about, but very soon it will be a genetically engineered pig, a chicken, even, God forbid, our beloved cows."
Current FDA policy states that foods need to be labeled only when the end product has a "material difference" from the natural organism. The only difference with AquAdvantage salmon and natural Atlantic ones would be the way in which the fish were produced.
"[Labeling the fish] just causes confusion for the consumers," said David Edwards, the head of animal biotechnology for the Biotechnology Industry Organization in an interview with The Washington Post. "It differentiates products that are not different. As we stick more labels on products that don't really tell us anything more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices."
Fourth-year College student Liz Broderick, however, expressed a different concern. "I think you need to give people the choice of whether they want to consume a genetically modified organism ... People like to control their own health and like to know what's going into their own bodies. If you don't even give them the option, then they can't make that decision for themselves," she said.
This is particularly relevant at a time when more individuals have become concerned with the ways in which their food is made. Consumers could be sure of their purchases if they only bought salmon labeled as wild, but most salmon consumed in the United States is farmed.
"You might as well label the [genetically modified] fish and lose a few customers instead of all the investments you made so far," Broderick said.
AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., proposed the plan for genetically modified salmon to the FDA 15 years ago and has spent more than $60 million seeking approval during the past decade. The company said the salmon would not reach markets for at least 18 months after approval. Farmers who would want to grow the fish would also have to seek FDA approval of their facilities.
As novel as this new salmon may be, however, other types of genetically modified food are not new to the U.S. food supply. A hormone that makes cows produce more milk was approved in 1994, and GMO consumption has drastically increased since then. A 2010 study conducted by the National Academies of Science showed that more than four-fifths of the soybean, corn and cotton grown in the United States last year contained genetically engineered crops. Moreover, many Americans consume unlabeled modified food daily in different oils and processed foods.
But if it is approved, AquAdvantage salmon could be the first step in regularly incorporating genetically modified animals into the American diet. The FDA has set aside 60 days after the panel for further public discussion.
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