The sprawling federal
spending bill unveiled this week on Capitol Hill included a small passage with
potentially big implications in the food world.
In two paragraphs on
page 106, lawmakers instructed the Food and Drug Administration to forbid the
sale of genetically engineered salmon until the agency puts in place labeling
guidelines and "a program to disclose to consumers" whether a fish
has been genetically altered. The language comes just a month after FDA made
salmon the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption and
represents a victory for advocates who have long opposed such foods from
reaching Americans' dinner plates. At the very least, they say, consumers ought
to know what they are buying.
The fish in the
spotlight is the AquAdvantage salmon, produced by Massachusetts-based
AquaBounty. The Atlantic salmon contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon
and a gene from the ocean pout -- a combination to help it grow large enough
for consumption in 18 months instead of the typical three years.
Activists and
commercial fishermen have raised concerns about whether the fish is safe to eat
and whether potential environmental harms could unfold if any of AquaBounty's
salmon ever made their way into ocean waters and mated with wild salmon. The
company has argued that its fish, which are all female, sterile and raised in
land-locked facilities, actually could reduce pressure on wild stocks and
prevent the over-fishing of Atlantic salmon. FDA has said its approval was
"based on sound science and a comprehensive review" and that
regulators are confident the genetically altered fish is safe to eat.
The agency said last
month it could require additional labeling of genetically engineered foods only
if "there is a material difference -- such as a different nutritional
profile" between the genetically engineered food and its natural
counterpart. In the case of the AquaAdvantage salmon, FDA found no such differences.
But the language in the
federal spending bill, which is expected to soon pass Congress, directs FDA to
prevent the AquaBounty salmon from reaching the U.S. market until regulators
finalize labeling guidelines. It also directs them to spend "not less than
$150,000" undertaking the effort.
"There's a
question as to whether this fish should even be called a salmon," said
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who pushed for the additional language.
"The FDA made no mandatory labeling requirement. Instead, they said it could
be labeled voluntarily. But no manufacturer of a 'Frankenfish' is going to
label it as such. ... At least now people will have the opportunity, the
chance, to know what it is that they are purchasing."
Lisa Archer, director
of the food and technology program at the Friends of the Earth, said the
advocacy group would continue to keep pressing to have labels on all
genetically modified foods, but the salmon provision was a good start.
"The vast majority of people want GMO labeling, and Friends of the Earth and
our allies will continue to fight for our basic right to know what we are
feeding our families," she said in a statement.
AquaBounty did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite the language in
this week's federal spending bill, it remains unclear when and where
genetically modified salmon might show up for sale.
Knowing FDA likely
would approve the AquaBounty salmon, consumer and environmental activists have
in recent years convinced some of the country's largest retailers not to stock
it. Chains such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco and Target have said they will
not sell the controversial fish.
By Brady Dennis
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