By Fredrica Syren
Due to cost, more and more of our foods are becoming genetically modified these days. However, we really don’t know what the long-term effects of these foods are because they really have not been tested enough. Since GMO foods do not require labels, the scary thing is that we have no way of knowing what we eat or whether we even have a way to avoid it if we so wish.
Since Christmas, the first genetically modified animal protein is on its way to being sold in stores. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a firm permission to produce GMO salmon. The basis for the FDA’s decision to allow GMO salmon to be sold is that they could not find any valid scientific reasons to ban its production. According to them, genetically engineered salmon won’t threaten the environment.
GMO Atlantic salmon are engineered by using extra genes from two other species of fish, the end result being a fish that tastes like an Atlantic salmon but that grows twice as fast, making it cheaper to produce and sell. Because the FDA likely won’t require a label that says the salmon was genetically modified, consumers won’t know the difference. Genetically modified salmon could become the first genetically modified animal in the world to be declared officially “safe to eat.”
Critics of what they call the “Frankenfish” argue that introducing such fast-growing salmon creates unacceptable risks to human health and the environment. They also know that permitting the production of genetically modified fish will likely lead to more GM animal production, which could eventually destroy entire food chains.
I have to say I’m impressed that Congress could take time out to legalize another genetically modified food while struggling so hard to agree on the fiscal cliff.
Make sure we don’t sit by quietly on this issue. Make sure to raise your voice and tell the FDA and President Obama we say “No!” to GMO Salmon. Go here:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_gmo_salmon_now/
