GE Salmon Swims Towards Approval, How’s that for a Holiday Surprise?

[marmar]

from Civil Eats:


GE Salmon Swims Towards Approval, How’s that for a Holiday Surprise?
By Anna Ghosh on December 21, 2012


Move over Grinch. The FDA is doing everything in its power to give American consumers a terrible holiday gift this year. Today they took the final step toward approving genetically engineered (GE) salmon, the first GE food animal. Even after countless Americans have expressed their deep concerns about this frankenfish, the FDA has turned a deaf ear moving forward with this reckless approval. That’s why we’re asking Congress to block the approval of GE salmon.

As we reported earlier this month, we’re not surprised that the FDA chose today, the Friday before Christmas, to release their draft Environmental Assessment. AquaBounty, the biotech company responsible for bringing us GE salmon, used its own data to convince the FDA that this fish is safe to eat. Of course they think it’s safe: their profits are inextricably linked to its approval. Which is why it’s so outrageous that the FDA would take AquaBounty’s word over that of dozens of legislators and scientists, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, not to mention thousands of concerned consumers. The best way we can fight the FDA’s abuse of its approval power is by asking members of Congress to keep GE salmon out of our grocery stores.

And if the approval of GE salmon wasn’t enough to zap the holiday spirit right out of you, this frankenfish may be hitting the market without any sort of label, meaning that concerned consumers will have no way of choosing to avoid GE salmon. You see, AquaBounty — and apparently the FDA as well — don’t believe consumers deserve the right to know whether the fish they’ve been eating is genetically engineered. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/12/21/ge-salmon-swims-towards-approval-hows-that-for-a-holiday-surprise/

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[JohLast]

2. I hope the package states this before I don't buy it.

[pinboy3niner]

3. They could put a graphic on the package...

Welcome to DU!

[Tunkamerica]

20. don't buy farm raised salmon, the package definitely states that.

you can also tell by the sickly pink color... unless that's what gene they're splicing in.

[Berlum]

29. That very issue - our right to know what our food is -- could be huge in the next years

The defeat of Prop 37 in California -- apparently with vote fraud -- has spawned efforts in nearly 30 states to write and campaign for laws specifying that GM foods be clearly labeled.

That way you can buy GM if you want it, and you can avoid it if you want.

Common sense basic human rights stuff.

This linked article from SustainableBusiness.com is from late November. More states have since gotten active.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24311

[byeya]

4. If Obama could step in and kill an EPA reg(unpopular act) then he can step in and kill the FDA reg

which would be a popular act. I hope that occasionally Obama will think of the planet before profits. This has ramifications beyond food - salmon farming is a big source of pollution - and the genes of the franckenfish will inevitable degrade the wild populations.
Obama's environmental grade isn't much above an F.
Do something that won't screw the environment and is popular with voters Barack!

[Faryn Balyncd]

10. agreed

[djean111]

5. I am already afraid to buy shrimp from the Gulf (Clorexit) or from overseas (feces).

So I stopped buying shrimp.
Looks like I may have to stop buying salmon?
We consumers are the test animals, it seems.

[IDemo]

6. Shrimp was permanently banned from my diet after the BP spill

I may have to take up fishing, which I haven't done in 30 years, to satisfy my taste for salmon.

[Dustlawyer]

14. Might as well add crab and oysters too! Soon there won't be any because they are quickly

disappearing! Most of the seafood in the stores comes from S.E. Asia and their polluted waters anyway!

[IDemo]

7. There are two distinct crimes here

The fucking with the salmon genome, and the cloaking of that crime from the eyes of consumers.

Someone needs to create an app that will ID crap like this from the barcode label.

[Berlum]

30. Good idea....Here's a link to an app something like you are suggesting....

http://truefoodnow.org/shoppers-guide/

Somebody will probably do the bar code app...if not already out there

[byeya]

8. Agree with the above. We live in NC and will eat Atlantic shrimp but nothing that comes

from the Gulf of Mexico.
Salmon is one of the best foods you can eat and the administration is going to fuck it up.
And for those of you who take Omega 3 fish oil supplements, some will be contamination by this
messing with the salmons' genotype and you will ingest it.

[Tunkamerica]

21. my favorite is when the package says atlantic or pacific salmon (farm raised).

wtf?

[byeya]

9. This thread doesn't deserve to sink out of sight because it impacts people and the planet in

several ways - all preventable by preventing franckenfish from being loosed upon us.

[pscot]

11. K&R

[Orrex]

12. Do we have any evidence that this fish is unsafe?

I haven't read much about it, so I'm asking the question honestly.


Thanks.

[LWolf]

16. Based on what we've seen

with genetically modified plant crops, it doesn't matter whether it's safe to eat the fish, although that is also a concern..

It's not safe for ecosystems, it's not safe for non GE species, and it's not safe for the 99% on the planet to be dependent on patented food sources owned by mega corporations.

[IDemo]

17. From one source -

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/consumer-groups-petition-fda-to-ban-ge-salmon-as-an-unsafe-food-additive/

“The data FDA has on GE salmon, which were supplied by Aquabounty, are incomplete, biased, and cannot be relied upon to show that the GE salmon is safe to consume,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “Aquabounty’s own study showed that GE salmon may contain increased levels of IGF-1, a hormone that helps accelerate the growth of the transgenic fish and is linked to breast, colon, prostate, and lung cancer.”

[Tunkamerica]

22. +1

[plethoro]

13. I only eat green beans and Skippy's peanut butter now, so

it won't affect me. I used to eat a lot of fish. If we can get out of this country this year and go to New Zealand, maybe I'll eat fish again.

[Blue_In_AK]

19. Skippy's contains GMO oils.

[Atman]

31. Skippy? WTF?

There are so many good natural and/organic peanut butters out there...why would you be concerned about those other foods, yet think Skippy agri-sludge is good? Since massive shipments of peanut the mega food producers must buy frequently arrive furry little rodent stowaways, the FDA actually set a standard for how many rodents are acceptable. Think about that next time you see those little black specks in your Skippy or Jif. They may not indicate peanutty goodness! I swore of the big supermarket brands years ago.

[plethoro]

32. I didn't know. After your post I am throwing out the two jars of Skippy I bought at

Sams yesterday and won't be buying it again. I don't like the textures of organic peanut butter. I will make inquiries at my diabetic website today to see what peanut butter they use. I'm sure these folks will think it strange that the owner of the website didn't know that Skippy was bad. Thanks for your answer. I actually appreciate it when people give informative answers like you did, regardless how intolerant they are. Between my website and my work at the Alzheimer's facility I don't have much time to eat let alone research peanut butters.

[Catherina]

15. Unconscionable. K&R n/t

Unconscionable. K&R n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

18. It makes me sick.

Terrible for the Alaska commercial fishermen ... Or maybe not if people reject the frankenfish.

[pinboy3niner]

24. I buy Pacific wild seafood almost exclusively

The salmon, especially, is superior to the Atlantic and farm-raised products. A real treat is the Copper River Salmon, which goes on sale for a few weeks every season.

While he was alive, my little brother did fishing trips to Alaska, so I could also count on getting some great salmon from him. Instead of a formal portrait, the photo displayed at his memorial service was from his last Alaskan trip--pictured with a Coho...

[RedCappedBandit]

26. Awesome picture of your brother.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

28. Maybe you buy wild Pacific salmon ...

... but there's a lot of fraudulent labeling of various fish. Farm salmon labeled as "wild", any old fish labeled as "red snapper".

Me, I'm too dumb to know the difference, and that's what the fisheries, or wholesalers, or retailers, or restaurants are counting on.

At least your brother caught a real one. I bet it tasted great!

[Blue_In_AK]

33. That's one of the joys of living in Alaska.

We've got a freezer full, and we know where it came from.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. You have a freezer? Isn't that redundant?

I thought in Alaska, you could just put stuff in the garage.

It's warmer where I am, the beer in the garage hardly ever freezes.

[Blue_In_AK]

37. It would probably freeze TOO hard

especially this winter. It's been COLD here this year. We only have a carport.

[Blue_In_AK]

34. This is a great picture.

I'm so glad he got the chance to come up here.

[HiPointDem]

23. people don't want this stuff, but it keeps on getting bigger. strange how it works. aside from

the usual criticisms, it means increasing corporate control of the food supply.

[RedCappedBandit]

25. Couldn't you avoud it by buying organic?

Or is that covered under the last paragraph you pasted?

[Recursion]

36. I know animals aren't plants, but the experience with plants is depressing

There's pretty much no such thing as non-GMO soy grown in the US anymore, because of cross-pollination. You know, the stuff Monsanto swore wouldn't happen.

[love_katz]

27. Kicking.

People have the right to reject this dangerous meddling with our food. We can't do that if the food is not labeled.

And I agree completely with what Lwolf said. We all know how trustworthy greedy corporate 'persons' are about disclosing any information which could interfere with their profits.

I do NOT want huge corporations having patent rights on the food I can buy to eat! And those same greed heads should not have the right to control what is available to us, either.