Frankenfish may soon be on store shelves

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http://www.thecampaign.org/News/feb03a4.php#frankenfish

 

Frankenfish may soon be on store shelves

 

February 2003 News

Frankenfish may soon be on store shelves

 

February 28

Scripps Howard News Service

 

Developers of genetically altered fish say they expect to see the first

engineered fish hit supermarket shelves in two years, and genetic food experts

predict that other genetically altered animals will follow in about a decade.

 

Environmental groups trying to block the new technologies say that's no fish

story and are promising legal suits to stop the marketing of genetically alerted

proteins. Scientists say that even if all hurdles are overcome, they don't know

if consumers will buy genetically altered meat.

 

At a recent briefing for congressional staffers on Capitol Hill, Joseph

McGonigle of Aqua Bounty Farms, a Waltham, Mass., firm developing a salmon

branded as AquAdvantage that has been genetically altered to grow faster, said

the technology is needed to feed future populations around the world.

 

McGonigle said the 100 million tons of fish caught in the oceans each year is

probably the maximum catch that can be obtained. People will have to turn to new

technologies that promise to provide salmon and other ocean-going fish

economically. He said the new technology will allow farms growing traditionally

ocean-grown fish to be built in Iowa or other inland states close to grain

stocks to feed them.

 

Because engineered salmon grows four to six times faster than farmed salmon, it

requires less food to reach maturity - a big economic savings. At maturity, the

fish is the same size as farmed salmon.

 

Aqua Bounty applied for approval to bring the fish to market in 1996, and

McGonigle said he expects the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will approve

commercial use of the salmon in two years. He predicted that engineered trout

and talapia will be next in line to seek regulatory approval, and scientists say

studies are under way involving 30 other commercially sold fish species and

shellfish.

 

Although Aqua Bounty maintains that genetically altered salmon is a regular

food, the Food and Drug Administration is processing this application as if the

fish were a new animal drug. This imposes more stringent requirements on the

company to pay for independent scientific testing to show the fish is safe for

humans and allows the government to monitor the company after approval is given.

 

Eric Hallerman of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University said

processing genetically altered fish as a new drug also keeps the results of the

interim tests secret and doesn't allow public review of how the FDA is reaching

decisions.

 

Hallerman said there are other issues involved in bringing genetically altered

fish to market that the FDA isn't used to dealing with, and no one knows what

the impact on wild fish would be if genetically altered salmon are released into

the oceans.

 

" The FDA has limited environmental expertise, " he said.

 

Joe Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety, a Washington environmental group

battling genetically altered crops and animals, doubts the altered fish will

appear in supermarkets anytime soon.

 

" There is a lot of legal work to be done, and they have to look at all of the

issues, " he said.

 

Mendelson said the FDA does not have the technological tools to adequately

assess the safety of the technology and the environmental consequences if the

fish escapes into the wild. The genetically altered salmon are raised are

sterile females, but if they escape they could compete for scarce food with wild

fish. There have been large escapes of farmed salmon grown on both coasts.

 

Mendelson said the environmental community is rallying against genetically

altered salmon - which they label " frankenfish " - because they realize that new

generations of genetically altered animals are not far off.

 

Mendelson said the purveyors of genetically altered foods also have yet to

address consumer confidence in the technology, and could face a revolt in

supermarket aisles.

 

Aqua Bounty's McGonigle said that once the salmon clears FDA regulations,

consumer acceptance will not be a problem.

 

" Consumers do need to know these products are safe, " he said.

 

Hallerman said there will be some taste difference with genetically altered

fish, because they are grown so fast they do not put on the fatty tissue that

gives wild salmon its distinctive taste.

 

" I think there will be somewhat lower levels of fat and moisture, but for most

it will be indistinguishable from farmed salmon, " he said.

 

McGonigle said his company has conducted blind taste tests on altered salmon

grown at the company's experimental facility on Prince Edward Island in Canada,

and he said that consumers could not tell the difference.

 

On the Net: www.aquabounty.com

 

www.pewagbiotech.org

 

www.gefish.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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