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Update: Stop GMO salmon

Adam Klaus, CREDO Action

Earlier this year we let you know about the Food and Drug Administration's impending approval of a genetically modified (GMO) strain of salmon. Over 54,000 CREDO Action members responded by telling the FDA not to approve the fish.

There are some signs that our pressure is working. At the public hearing in September several members of the advisory committee criticized the poor science submitted by AquaBounty, the company engineering the fish, and called for more rigorous scientific review before moving forward with the approval process.¹

While the committee has not yet issued a recommendation on whether to approve the salmon, the FDA has opened a public comment period on labeling requirements should the organism be brought to market. We still firmly believe that AquaBounty's application should be rejected, but we need to fight this battle on all fronts.

We have until November 22 to let the FDA know that it should not approve GMO salmon, but if it does, to enact strict labeling requirements — so consumers can at the very least make educated decisions about what they eat.

People who know anything about this salmon have good reason to be afraid. The fish is modified with genes from another species — the eelpout — so that it can grow twice as fast as normal.²

Because the FDA is reviewing the salmon application under its rules for animal drugs, there is little focus on the potential dangers of human consumption. Additionally, the FDA has not conducted any of its own research and is instead relying on information provided by AquaBounty, a company that has a financial incentive to downplay potential dangers.

There are also serious concerns about the environmental impact of the fish. Studies show that if just a few GMO salmon escaped into the wild, they could eradicate the wild Atlantic salmon population in less than 40 fish generations.³

Clearly, the FDA shouldn't allow the fish to be produced in the first place. But if it does, the FDA should require that it be clearly labeled so we can decide on our own to keep it off our dinner plates.

The November 22 deadline is approaching. Submit your public comment today telling the FDA to enact clear labeling requirements for GMO salmon, or better yet, keep it off the market altogether.

Adam Klaus, Campaign Manager

CREDO Action from Working Assets

¹ www.digitaljournal.com/article/297913

² www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/press-releases/public-still-in-the-dark-on-transgenic-salmon/

³ articles.mercola.com/sites/deleted_blog/archive/2099/12/25/ge-salmon-are-you-out-of-your-minds.aspx

The FDA must require labeling of genetically modified salmon.