Monday, December 24, 2012

Obama FDA Declares GM Salmon as "Safe as Food"


Now that the presidential election is over, say the supporters of this salmon.

I suppose. Huge multinational ag companies and food companies were busy doing the smear campaign to successfully defeat California's GMO labeling proposition.

The AquAdvantage salmon by AquaBounty Technologies contains genes from two different fish so that the growth hormone is produced all year round, instead of just during warm weather.

From New York Times (12/21/2012):

Engineered Fish Moves a Step Closer to Approval

by Andrew Pollack

Government regulators moved a big step closer on Friday to allowing the first genetically engineered animal — a fast-growing salmon — to enter the nation’s food supply.

The Food and Drug Administration said it had concluded that the salmon would have “no significant impact” on the environment. The agency also said the salmon was “as safe as food from conventional Atlantic salmon.” While the agency’s draft environmental assessment will be open to public comment for 60 days, it seems likely that the salmon will be approved, though that could still be months away.

The environmental assessment is dated May 4. It is unclear why it took until now for it to be released, but supporters of the salmon say they believe it is because the Obama administration was afraid of an unfavorable consumer reaction before the election in November.

Environmental and consumer groups quickly criticized the federal agency’s conclusions.

“The G.E. salmon has no socially redeeming value,” Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, a Washington advocacy group opposed to farm biotechnology, said in a statement. “It’s bad for the consumer, bad for the salmon industry and bad for the environment. F.D.A.’s decision is premature and misguided.”

But the decision was long in coming. AquaBounty Technologies, the company that developed the salmon, has been trying to win approval for more than a decade.

“We’re encouraged by this,” Ronald Stotish, the chief executive of AquaBounty, said on Friday. However, he added, “We’re not so foolish as to be wildly enthusiastic” that Friday’s action will definitely lead to approval. Among other things, some members of Congress have tried to block the agency from approving the fish.

The AquAdvantage salmon, as it is called, is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon and a genetic switch from the ocean pout, an eel-like creature. The switch keeps the gene on so that the salmon produces growth hormone year round, rather than only during warm weather. The fish reach market weight in about 18 months instead of three years.

(Full article at the link)


AquaBounty Technologies is based in Maynard, Massachusetts. The company is listed on London Stock Exchange (FTSE), whose share price skyrocketed on the news, almost tripled from the recent low.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It should be illegal to misrepresent genetic experimentation as Salmon,or even food.

Apolline said...

Have a good Christmas evening, Ultraman, and all the readers of this precious blog.

Anonymous said...

Any testing on HUMANS with this GM food? Is the obesity (weight) growth seen in people eating various fast foods (which likely contain GM wheat and corn) due to growth hormones? Just saying..Would like to see the science...the testing..and the real proof. Also, the fish need to be kept from intermingling with the wild fish..it could be terrible to hybridize. We already have wheat and corn hybridized with GM by accident (maybe).

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Clinical trial? Interesting question... I'm sure they've done that, without any fanfare. Remember Tuft University's clinical study of GMO rice (Golden Rice) in China then in the US on children?

VyseLegendaire said...

Just wait till the first superhumans are born with genes that leaked into their gut from this fish.

Anonymous said...

We now know that human brain is not safe as food,indeed we now rarely eat food that answers back.

I'm guessing the urge to kill them and eat them still exists but these days it's a transaction where the victim pays the assailant.

Anonymous said...

Clinical trial result: didn't keel over dead within 2 weeks.

[SAFE]

This message approved by THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

TechDud said...

Forget POTUS, he's a lame duck anyway!

Let him eat that shite, he thinks it safe.
What's that?
It will never be on his families' dinner plate?

Hippocracy!

Next thing you know, we'll all be back to "death by stoning, cavorting with druids, & dung for dinner".... nevermind.

I want to know what the French, the Germans, and the Russians have to say about this garbage they call "food".

The north american governance has no credibility, at least with me, anymore!

Ageless Yankee said...

Does anyone else see a pattern here?

- Massive crude oil/Corexit contamination in GOM, genetic deformities, bio-concentrations of hazardous substances.
- Increasing radioactive contamination of N. Pacific and agricultural areas in E. Asia.
- Introduction of GM FrankenFish that will escape to the wild to interbreed and compete with indigenous species.
- GM FrankenSeeds that are distributed by the wind, and followed by a bevy of enforcers and attorneys to coerce payment from downwind farmers.
- The ongoing, "money for nothing/chicks for free" FED QE's that basically give free money to favored banks for speculation in the commodities market.
- Global climate change whose cow has already exited the barn and can be seen casually ambling up the freeway on-ramp to merge with traffic.

I would say that clean (i.e more or less hydrocarbon free) food and water that doesn't make a radiation detector sing soprano is likely to become increasingly hard to find/expensive in the future.

If/when Fukushima Dai-ichi SFP's 1, 2, 3, 4, and common catch fire I see huge upside growth potential for pre-2013 canned food and bulk grains. This is an investment opportunity you won't want to miss along with the coming South American real estate boom.

Anonymous said...

Ageless YankeeM - sadly I think you are correct in naming the main problems in the world today, and boy they are big ones! It is disheartening to think/know that we are on a rapid course to self-destruction.

On a more positive note, Happy New Year!

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