Salmon Follow-up

Back on Sept 9, I shared with you an email regarding a petition against FDA approval of genetically modified salmon.  On the 24th, I received the following email from the folks at Fresh:

Take a bow.

This weekend, over 10,000 FRESH petition signatures against genetically engineered salmon were delivered to the FDA. And guess what: after three days of hearings, the FDA agreed with us that there's significant concerns about genetically engineered salmon, and it must go through a rigorous public review before further consideration for approval.

This is huge. You did this. Your signature, and your efforts to spread the word put a stop to the corporate fast-tracking of genetically engineered salmon in our food system!

We still have a lot of work ahead of us. The corporations pushing genetically engineered salmon aren't backing down. We need to take advantage of this victory and re-organize to stop genetically modified salmon once and for all.

Please donate $5 to help FRESH continue our fight against genetically modified salmon.
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5958/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2746

The FDA agreed that the small sample sizes, incomplete data and poor scientific assessments in the research done on genetically modified salmon warrant concern.

Dr. Gary Thorgaard, the only member of the Committee with expertise on fisheries, called on FDA to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement, a sentiment echoed by other members of the Committee during the discussion period. The FDA will publish the final environmental assessment that they have thus-far kept from the public and open it up for the required 30-day public comment period. This only happened because of our tremendous protest and could end up meaning slowing down this process by years.

In light of the numerous unknowns raised throughout the two day meeting, FDA officials announced that any approval will require post-market review and data requirements, but we must make sure that they also require proper regulation and safety assessments.

That means we still have quite a battle to fight! But there are only three of us here behind FRESH, and it is your support that keeps us up and running, doing what we can do to help protect our fragile food system.

Whether or not you signed the petition, this is pretty good news.  Not only that the questionable idea of genetically changed fish will be looked into further by the FDA, but that once again, it's proved that working together, we can make positive changes in the things we eat and how they are produced.

Genetically Enhanced Salmon

I received an email about this topic yesterday and I thougth I'd share it with you:

We have 10 days before the FDA meets to discuss AquAdvantage Salmon (genetically modified) salmon. We want to deliver 10,000 signatures opposing the approval of this fish - will you please add your name to the petition today?

AquAdvantage salmon are genetically engineered to produce growth hormones year-round, creating a fish that the company claims grows at twice the normal rate.

Without conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment, the FDA has announced that it will potentially approve AquAdvantage salmon as the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption. They're counting on approving the GE salmon as a 'drug,' making it infinitely easier to pass through. The FDA is not even opening up for comments about its speedy approval of this new food, instead it's holding a short comment period about the LABELING of this salmon.

The health impact of eating genetically modified fish are entirely unknown. The FDA has NOT studied the long-term trials on the fish and with very little evidence, has deemed the fish 'safe to eat.' Even more alarming, the FDA has given very little evidence of these studies over to the public, excluding anything claimed by AquaBounty as "confidential business information."

Even if you personally choose not to risk your health by eating GE salmon, you still have a huge problem. Each year millions of farmed salmon escape from open-water net pens, throwing off entire ecosystems and economies as they dominate already fragile wild salmon habitats. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences notes that a release of just 60 GE salmon into a wild population of 60,000 could lead to the extinction of the wild population in less than 40 fish generations.

We will deliver your comments IN PERSON to a meeting that the FDA is having about this issue on September 19th. That's only 10 days away! Can you please add your voice and say no to approving genetically engineered salmon?

We're down to 9 days now.  If you want to sign the petition against these modified fish, click here.