Look out salmonella — you have some food poisoning competition. AquaBounty has spliced together a horrific product: genetically engineered salmon that grow faster and larger than the old nature-produced model. With the incorporation of new technologies come new safety measures, but not in this case. Pushes for approval spur fears of massive product recalls by groups in opposition of “Frankenfish” and its potential for opening the door to genetically engineered meat products.

FDA Hearings

If approved, this would be the first bioengineered fish or animal destined for human consumption. I will not trust my family’s health to what “Aqua Bounty Technologies” says about their genetically altered fish. The FDA are the same guys overseeing the pharmaceutical and egg industry, and we all know that they made more than a slip in protecting the public from that plague. After all, the FDA doesn’t really test anything. They go by what the parties in interest have to say about the product because they want to make millions of dollars selling it.

The advisory panel urged the agency to require more studies to demonstrate the fish’s safety. There were considerable fears that the fish could trigger allergies or catastrophic injuries in some consumers. There are also fears that there will be an inability by the producers to contain the genetically engineered fish.

Craig Altier, an associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a member of the FDA advisory committee, stated, “Containment of the fish is essential as the release of this fast-growing animal could have devastating effects on native fish populations. We need to treat these fish as we would a potentially dangerous medicine or pharmaceutical, and apply all of the same security measures to its production and transport.”

If people want to eat genetically altered fish, meat or figs, that is their choice. However, I want the choice not to eat that stuff, and I want to know without a shadow of a doubt whether or not my food has been mutated.

Genetic Fish Labels

A ridiculous twist to this story is that there is a debate on whether or not to label genetically mutated salmon. Either labeling is required, as a minimum, or my family will take ALL salmon out of our diets unless we caught it ourselves. It would be the only way we know we are not consuming genetically altered salmon. What will a nationwide boycott of all salmon do to the salmon industry if that is America’s reaction to not identifying the “Frankenfish”?

FDA: Friend or Foe?

Ask yourself these two questions:

1. Who benefits from not identifying the true nature of our food (i.e., “organic,” “genetically altered” and so on)?
2. Who benefits from identifying foods as “natural,” “organic,” “genetically altered and so on?

The answer to those two questions should be the guiding light to the FDA. Regardless of what the FDA does, if the genetically altered fish are not clearly identified in both their packaging and restaurant menus, my family will not purchase any further salmon, and I urge you to follow suit. I will not wait for the href=”http://www.bestattorney.com/salmonella-tainted-eggs-recalled.html”>mass recall and episodes of violent illness. If I discover a restaurant serving genetically altered fish, I will not frequent that restaurant. If they are selling genetically altered fish, I do not feel that their standards for food quality and safety are high enough for my family to eat there.