AquaBounty, the company creating the first-ever genetically modified salmon for human consumption, is playing fast and loose with environmental regulations, and we may end up paying the price.
Last month, the Panamanian government fined AquaBounty for repeated violations of environmental regulations at its breeding facility, which is located in Panama to avoid scrutiny from U.S. regulators.1
Despite these blatant and dangerous transgressions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is quietly in the process of approving this experimental “frankenfish” product for sale in the United States. We must take action now and urge the FDA to block GMO salmon from reaching our store shelves before it makes a final ruling.
Sign the petition: Tell the FDA to reject GMO salmon.
If the FDA grants AquaBounty the approval it is seeking, it will be nearly impossible to stop GMO salmon from lining grocery stores shelves throughout the United States. And since there are currently no federal or state laws requiring foods containing GMOs to be labeled, consumers may have no way of knowing whether the salmon in their shopping carts was engineered by AquaBounty.
AquaBounty's frankenfish is an Atlantic salmon, spliced with genes from an eel pout and growth hormone from a Chinook salmon. The result is an aggressive salmon that produces growth hormone year-round, grows twice as fast, and consume five times more food than wild salmon. Introducing these traits into the wild population would be disastrous – and irreversible.2
But according to Food & Water Watch, AquaBounty’s Panamanian breeding facility has a long history of security issues, including incidents of its GMO salmon escaping into the wild.3 If AquaBounty is unable or unwilling to follow basic rules to operate their facilities, how can we expect it to produce a safe product or ensure that its dangerous experiment won’t irreparably damage the environment?
Tens of thousands of CREDO activists have already submitted public comments urging the FDA to stop the sale of genetically engineered salmon in the U.S. The recent and repeated environmental violations by AquaBounty give us a crucial opportunity to apply even more pressure on the FDA to reject GMO salmon once and for all.
Sign the petition: Urge the FDA to reject GMO salmon in the United States.
Thanks for all you do to keep our food safe.
References:
1) “AquaBounty Fined for Repeated Environmental Violations on Genetically Engineered Salmon,” Food & Water Watch, October 28, 2014
2) "Tell the FDA: No Frankenfish," Organic Consumers Union
3) Food & Water Watch press release, October 28, 2014
Related:
GMO Free USA
You Don't Need Meat to Be Big and Strong
