Genetically engineered salmon must be labeled, California Assembly bill says

Genetically modified fish sold in California would be labeled as such under a bill approved by the California Assembly Health Committee this week. Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) authored AB 88 in response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's review of an application to approve the farming and sale of genetically engineered fish.

Genetically engineered, or GE, fish have yet to be approved for the U.S. But the FDA has been reviewing the first application to produce GE fish as food from the Massachusetts firm Aqua Bounty Technologies "for several years," said FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey. The FDA held a public meeting about the application last fall. "There hasn't been any forward progression on the application" to sell GE fish eggs to approved growing facilities since then, she added.

GE fish are derived from combining the DNA of different types of fish, which allow them to grow, and go to market, more quickly. Aqua Bounty's GE salmon are estimated to grow to full marketable size in one-third the time of traditional farmed fish. Many environmental groups, including the Center for Food Safety in Washington, oppose GE fish, citing potential health and environmental risks.

Rebecca Spector, West Coast director of the Center for Food Safety, said GE fish are more allergenic than regular fish; they also have higher levels of hormones and decreased levels of Omega-3 fatty acids. She also expressed concern that GE fish could escape from farmed environments and cross-contaminate wild fish.

Calls to Aqua Bounty Technologies on two separate days were not returned, nor was a call to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which opposes AB 88.

GE animals, including fish, are regulated under the U.S. Animal Drug Approval Act, which treats genetic modification as a drug because it alters the structure or function of the animal. The FDA review process for GE animals tracks the genetic modification from test tube to animal for multiple generations to see if it mutates or causes unintended effects. The review also looks into its safety for human and animal consumption, as well as environmental containment. 

According to Delancey, the FDA has instructed Aqua Bounty to provide multiple and overlapping pathways of containment to prevent GE fish from escaping into the wild. She said 95% to 99% of the GE fish are sterile females.

While GE fish have not been approved by the FDA, Assemblyman Huffman does not think AB 88 is jumping the gun. "We're going to continue to see applications like this," he said. "We've been hearing about the possibility of GE salmon for years. If it's approved, that's a big problem in California and every other salmon state."

Still, Huffman added, AB 88 does not ban the sale of GE fish. It merely mandates that GE fish be clearly labeled: "If you're going to sell it right next to wild California salmon, you've got to put a label on it so people know what you're selling. That's the kind of protection we need to have on the books."

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-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: An 18-month-old genetically modified salmon outsizes a farmed salmon of the same age. Credit: Reuters / Barrett & MacKay Photo

Comments

[Patsy]

Nobody wants their genetically modified garbage, Monsanto is doing the same thing contaminating farms all over the world with their genetically modified garbage, then turns around and sues the farmers and takes their crops and lands, this genetically modified salmon will contaminate the natural salmon, then the government and their corporations will claim all the salmon in the ocean belongs to them, they should be shut down because they are attempting to poison all our food supply with their cancer causing gmo salmon, they are attempting to monopolize all our food supply, check out prisonplanetdotcom

[jk]

All should know that 3rd generation lab animals fed GMO's are sterile and have reduced cell wall thickness in intestines and reproductive organs. GE on the other hand, as with all "human altered" natural food items should be labeled. It should be my "FREEDOM" to choose and that means informed consent. The posts here that are positive are more than likely from the GMO industry, the slant is too vile for a disinterested third party. The truth be known this is about food control by the multi nationals.

[Bob]

When God, Mother Nature, or just plain chance genetically evolves a salmon does he/she/it have to label that change? Wouldn't it be wonderful if every deadly drug-resistant bacteria or virus had a label warning us?

[keldwalker]

America sucks. This is another example of why.

[1person]

Um, hello....they don't label genetically altered beef or milk and we all still suck both down without another thought. Don't get me wrong...I think it should be labeled as genetically modified...but so should everything else to which the label would apply, from meat to fruits and veggies. It's ironic how quickly people will balk at paying higher prices for produce and meat that is organic and steroid free.

[Robert NO longer in LA]

We all KNOW, once this frankenfish gets 'Approved' by our CORRUPT US Congress, the labels come OFF and greedy craporations fatten their PROFIT MARGINS, pretending 'This, IS, the REAL fish!' Restaurants already cross label crapfish, as the rarer, and MORE PRICEY fish.....countless supermarkets DO IT too!

Our politicians operate like Wall Street: never let ethics, morals, common decency, interfere with making a buck, an illegal buck, or ANY kind of buck. Any you voters drink the Fool-Aid....kinda explains it all, huh?

[Cheese_Wonton]

Isn't amazing how in this country any sense of restraint, even when it concerns the food we eat, is abandoned at the slightest whiff of an increased profit. When greed becomes more important that food safety we are all in danger as a nation.

[Karen Perry]

genetically modified food is unhealthy and unethical -- remember the saying don't mess with mother nature!? I think we need to think about the long-term effects of genetically engineering salmon and how that decision affects the next seven generations. Imagine all these genetically engineered fish will eventually end up contaminating all of the fish-- because they will be going out to the ocean and spawning with non-GM. O. Fish. This could happen very quickly !

[Ron Willison]

And people still believe that all the half human half animal carvings and statues from our ancient past are just mythology. Wake up people. This is not the first time we have crossed this bridge. You think maybe we should learn from past mistakes? How many plagues were accidents created by just such genetic manipulations gone wrong?