Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

FDA rules won't require labeling of genetically modified salmon
The Washington Post ^ | 18 Sep 2010 | Lyndsey Layton

Posted on 09/19/2010 3:00:24 PM PDT by Palter

As the Food and Drug Administration considers whether to approve genetically modified salmon, one thing seems certain: Shoppers staring at fillets in the seafood department will find it tough to pick out the conventional fish from the one created with genes from another species.

Despite a growing public demand for more information about how food is produced, that won't happen with the salmon because of idiosyncracies embedded in federal regulations.

The FDA says it cannot require a label on the genetically modified food once it determines that the altered fish is not "materially" different from other salmon - something agency scientists have said is true.

Perhaps more surprising, conventional food makers say the FDA has made it difficult for them to boast that their products do not contain genetically modified ingredients.

The labeling question has emerged as the FDA determines whether to approve the fish, an Atlantic salmon known as AquAdvantage that grows twice as fast as its natural counterpart. The decision carries great weight because, while genetically modified agriculture has been permitted for years and engineered crops are widely used in processed foods, this would be the first modified animal allowed for human consumption in the United States.The AquAdvantage salmon has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, and a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.

'The public wants to know'

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: fda; food; geneticallymodified; salmon
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

A gene-engineered fish, top, and a natural one of the same age.
1 posted on 09/19/2010 3:00:27 PM PDT by Palter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Palter

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


2 posted on 09/19/2010 3:01:29 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palter
Hmmm ~ looks like there's going to be more salmon at a lower price than we ever imagined.
3 posted on 09/19/2010 3:04:09 PM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: muawiyah

Trying to feed the world with innovations
is
sooooooooooooooooooo
eeevil.


4 posted on 09/19/2010 3:06:11 PM PDT by 4Liberty ( How do you spell "moral hazard"?: $ 19, 0 0 0, 0 0 0, 0 0 0, 0 0 0.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Palter

Big damn fishie.


5 posted on 09/19/2010 3:06:43 PM PDT by Old Sarge (Marking Time On The Government's Dime)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 4Liberty

I have a feeling that salmon aren’t going to Africa to feed starving children.


6 posted on 09/19/2010 3:09:12 PM PDT by Wayne07
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Palter

I think I will quit eating fish.


7 posted on 09/19/2010 3:09:32 PM PDT by mountainlion (concerned conservative.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mountainlion

Yep.


8 posted on 09/19/2010 3:10:55 PM PDT by realpatriot (Some spelling (and grammar for the grammar nazis) errers entionally included!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Palter

9 posted on 09/19/2010 3:13:31 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palter
My hometown was the beginning of fish breeding.

Seth Green of Rochester NY started it and shipped fingerlings all over including out west....so some of those western fish are not "natural" to that area.

His intention was only good...with hopes that everyone coul;d enjoy fish.

We still maintain a hatchery near Rochester.

But this stuff...it's scarey...but likely one of those things that by the time you eat enough harmful amounts of the "poisons" they are using, you'll be old.

They'll just make more money for less work.

10 posted on 09/19/2010 3:14:04 PM PDT by Sacajaweau (What)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MrShoop

I’ll bet the starving people in Africa wouldn’t care what they did to make the fish grow faster.


11 posted on 09/19/2010 3:26:27 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: mountainlion

Kind of late now, all the fish you’ve eaten thus in your life far have been altered.


12 posted on 09/19/2010 3:27:27 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Palter

Tinkering around with selective breeding and genetics gotta be dangerous ...right? I mean, the beef we eat have been messed with for years. It is like treating hatchery fish differently than “natural” They both are grown from the same eggs and sperm, but one is protected, the other is called fair game.


13 posted on 09/19/2010 3:27:46 PM PDT by runninglips (Don't support the Republican party, work to "fundamentally change" it...conservative would be nice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palter

Now we just need to breed bigger bagels.


14 posted on 09/19/2010 3:27:48 PM PDT by P.O.E. (Compact Theory)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MrShoop

For over a hundred years we’ve shown the world how to produce more food than they could possibly eat.

They’ve rejected our ideas.

Let’em starve.

We’ll use our surplus food to burn to power our cars and heat our homes.


15 posted on 09/19/2010 3:30:21 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau
Terre Haute Indiana had a major fish hatchery as early as the 9th century AD, and may have had one earlier but the traces are gone.

The Indians as a regular practice stocked lakes and streams throughout the Eastern United States!

16 posted on 09/19/2010 3:33:19 PM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Palter

That... that’s no salmon. This thing’s larger than a red snapper.


17 posted on 09/19/2010 3:36:11 PM PDT by Moose Burger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palter
The biotechnology industry is opposed to mandatory labeling, saying it will only bewilder a public that is not well informed about genetic engineering. ... "Extra labeling only confuses the consumer," ... it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices."

The point is: as stupid as we all are, we have the RIGHT to know what we are eating.

On another note: so many people are now waking up to the poison in nearly all sodas/juices/candy/gum/baked goods - HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and it's dangerous side effects as well as it's role in obesity - and the industry is seeing a drop in sales, instead of changing or at least giving the public the choice of HFCS or Sugar - they are going to change the name to "Corn Sugar." Yep, we, the stupid public won't catch on to that.

If Ma-belle of the fat a*s wants to see that we, the Little People" eat better - let her get into this stuff instead of dictating to us and restaurants. (What is her medical degree in, again?")

18 posted on 09/19/2010 3:36:24 PM PDT by maine-iac7
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palter

“Despite a growing public demand for more information about how food is produced, that won’t happen with the salmon because of idiosyncracies embedded in federal regulations.”

Because food manufacturers know people will not buy GM food when they are aware that it has been modified.


19 posted on 09/19/2010 3:38:15 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

“by the time you eat enough harmful amounts of the “poisons” they are using, you’ll be old.”

I’m already old, and I eat a lot of salmon. I’ll eat it if it’s cheaper, fur shure!


20 posted on 09/19/2010 3:38:49 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson