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FDA Uses Holidays to Hide GM Salmon Rubberstamp

December 22, 2012 by admin in Politics with 1 Comment

The FDA is using the holidays to hide its final steps in approving GM frankenfish salmon. Once approved, there will be no stopping frankenfish or any other monstrosity Agribusiness wants to cram down our throats.

by Heidi Stevenson

The FDA realized awhile back that the public doesn’t want genetically engineered salmon. Therefore, they slowed down their approval process—but they certainly didn’t end it. As Gaia Health noted at the time, their decision to ban labeling of genetically modified (GM) salmon had already been made over two years ago. That signaled their intention to do precisely what it’s clear they’re hoping you won’t notice: pushing the approval of GM salmon over the holidays, or advancing the process so far that it can’t be stopped.

So, the FDA chose the Friday before Christmas to announce that it’s completed the final steps for approval of frankenfish. Worse, it’s doing this in the face of a recent discovery of a new strain of salmon anemia virus, indicating that AquaBounty, the creator of AuaAdvantage, the GM salmon, is unable to raise these fish in a healthy environment. That alone should stop the approval process—but not when the FDA is controlled by the companies it supposedly regulates.

AquaBounty was on the verge of bankruptcy and would not have been able to stay in business, thus voiding their frankenfish application. As reported by Gaia Health, they were rescued by another faux regulatory agency, the USDA, which funded pseudo research on how to make the GM fish sterile. The question is, why would such a gift grant be given when the company had already claimed the GM fish were sterile? It’s fairly obvious it was a gift of taxpayer money to keep them afloat until they get an approval that had already been decided.

These frankenfish will arrive at your market unannounced and unlabeled. Natural salmon will not be labeled either, because the FDA has declared that it’s illegal to label nonGMO foods. They’ve decided that we’re too stupid to make decisions for ourselves, so they’re removing the information we need to make them.

Food & Water Watch reported yesterday, Friday, 21 December 2012:

Today, despite insufficient testing and widespread opposition, AquaBounty’s genetically engineered (GE) salmon took the final step towards becoming the first FDA-approved GE food animal. Today the Food and Drug Administration released its draft Environmental Assessment, clearing the way for this transgenic organism to be approved by the agency under its new animal drug approval process. Food & Water Watch is far from alone in condemning this historic decision – one that disregards numerous polls revealing that the vast majority of consumers oppose GE salmon.

The FDA is acting as the rogue agency that it is. Therefore, the only option left is for Congress to act. This may seem far fetched, but enough of an outcry from the people could make a difference. Though the president’s office put up a show of blocking frankenfish, the fact is that the president is neck-deep in Agribusiness money. This administration placed a Monsanto operative in a leading role at the FDA, so it’s trying to get him to issue a stay on stopping the FDA’s approval of GM salmon is hopeless. That leaves Congress.

Call to Action!

Food & Water Watch has a petition letter that states:

Stop the approval of GE salmon

Dear [Decision Maker],

The FDA recently made a terrible decision in moving forward with the approval of genetically engineered (GE) salmon. I urge you to protect American consumers by stopping the FDA’s approval process.

GE salmon, which would be the first product from a genetically engineered animal to hit grocery stores, is opposed by a vast majority of Americans, and scientists and legislators around the country have raised serious concerns. Furthermore, it has not been adequately tested for consumer safety and there is no demand for it in the marketplace.

You can add your own text to the message. Please sign it! Food & Water Watch is doing the work of identifying who your Congressional representative is and sending your message to him or her, so you don’t even need to look up the e-mail address. Please, at least sign the letter to your representative.

Do your part to stop frankenfish and help stop every other genetically modified animal that will follow. Yes, it’s an inconvenient time of year. The FDA knows it. They’re counting on it.

Do you really want to take the risks inherent in GM fish? We have nothing to demonstrate their safety beyond the word of the manufacturer that hopes to make a killing off them. We can only hope that the killing isn’t of people or the environment.

Do you want to go to your local store for salmon and know that it could be genetically modified, but with no indication that it has been? Please, take a couple of minutes out of your busy holiday schedule and help assure that future holidays will be festive. Go to Food & Water Watch’s page, Tell Your Members of Congress: Stop the Approval of GE Salmon. Add some text clarifying that, if they don’t stop GM salmon, then they’ll be voted out of office. That should get their attention. This is a make or break issue for us. So make it a make or break issue for them.

Previous Gaia Health articles that help put this one into perspective:

Sources:

Tagged agribusiness, aquabounty, aquabounty salmon, food & water watch petition, frankenfish salmon, frankenstein fish, genetically modified salmon, gm salmon, gm salmon petition, gmo, politics, salmon petition, stop approval of ge salmon

Shawn_Siegel

Very timely, Heidi. Thank you. I was not aware that the FDA has declared that it’s illegal to label nonGMO foods. As always, nothing can shock, yet it always does.