Courtesy of SeafoodSource.com:
Nonprofit activist group Food & Water Watch has issued two legal petitions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking it to declare GMO salmon produced by farmer AquaBounty to be unsafe to eat.
The petitions – a citizen petition and a food additive petition – both make the same argument: that genetically-engineered salmon more closely resembles what the FDA describes as a “food additive,” rather than an animal drug, and as such is subject to the FDA’s food additive review process. The FDA’s guidelines under that process, Food & Water Watch argued, mean FDA must declare GMO salmon unsafe to eat until it can perform an extensive series of studies proving otherwise.
“It couldn’t be more clear to consumers that GMO salmon is a food, not a drug,” said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch’s executive director. “It’s also clear that there are serious food safety concerns with this fish and major scientific gaps in FDA’s animal drug risk assessment. It’s time for FDA to step up and protect the health and welfare of American citizens rather than the economic interests of the biotechnology industry.”
Food & Water Watch has been here before; the group filed a similar petition in 2012, which the FDA refused to review. The group said in a statement that the new petition is based on newer data relating to hormone levels and potential allergens.
“The agency needs to seriously evaluate this petition, as it supports what consumers, scientists, grocery retailers and even the commercial salmon industry have been saying all along: GMO salmon is totally unnecessary and highly risky,” said Hauter.
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