“Mommy what’s for dinner?”
“Genetically engineered salmon my love!”
“What’s genetically engineered?”
“Well scientist made this brand new fish by taking a perfectly healthy wild Atlantic salmon. Then they added a few genes from a Pacific Chinook salmon, and a few growth hormones from an eel like fish called the Pout, and they made the “Frankenfish”! Doesn’t that sound delicious?”
I don’t know about you, but I never want to be putting a genetically engineered fish on my dinner table. And yet, in just a few short months, I might be doing just that without even knowing that I am. Outrageous ins’t it?
And yet it’s true. This genetically engineered salmon, the AquaAdvantage salmon, is the proud new baby of AquaBounty Technologies (ABT), a biotechnology company headquartered near Boston. What makes this salmon particularly interesting to it’s creators is that it grows twice as fast as a wild or farm raised fish. Indeed it will take 18 months for this baby to reach full maturity and find itself in our grocery stores. Which of course translates to a generous profit for ABT.
As of the end of December the FDA has determined that the AquaAdvantage salmon poses no real environmental risk, and appears to be safe for consumption. This means that the FDA will most likely not require a label that says the salmon was genetically modified, leaving the consumer in a highly compromised position. The GE salmon will look and taste exactly like the real thing! So you could be buying it without realizing it. Salmon offers so many wonderful health benefits, it would be a real shame to eliminate it from my diet. But if I find myself unable to answer this simple question “where did you come from little salmon?”, I may have to do just that.
Several environmental protection agencies have warned that if only a handful of eggs from this GE fish were to find their way into the wild, it could wipe out our entire wild salmon population. And though I am anything but a pessimist, I really hate to think about the impact of this on the rest of our food chain.
Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, warns that the process through which the fish has to go through to be approved, has nothing to do with the way the FDA approves drugs. He warns that “This is a radical new technology. We need very good, careful, close regulation, and we just don’t have that. We can’t be assured of the safety of any of these genetically engineered organisms.” (Women’s Health, Dec. 2012) That certainly does not put me at ease.
What I find amazing is that the FDA does not conduct a third party investigation into the safety of this new food. Instead the responsibly to prove that it is safe for consumption falls squarely on the shoulders of it’s creators. And it is no surprise that the scientist behind this mutant fish claim that it is indeed perfectly safe for human consumption.
Genetically engineered (GE) and genetically modified (GMO) foods is not a new concept. Scientist discovered that they could transplant genes from the DNA of one species into a completely different one, in the 1970’s. At the time, however, the idea was to create more nutritious food with the noble goal of feeding a hungry world.
What happened instead, is that companies created two types of crops. On the one hand they created crops, such as soybean, that are highly resistant to herbicides like “Roundup”. This means that these crops are doused with 3 to 4 times the amount of herbicides that non GMO crops are sprayed with…. and these lovely chemicals end up in our water system and our bodies. The second type of GMO crop is developed with a built-in pesticide. And yes, if it’s part of the plant as it grows, it finds it’s way into our bodies as well.
The most common GMO crops are corn and soybean. And though they have only been on the market for a couple of decades, health specialist can already see the detrimental impact of these crops on our health. Most agree, however, that we really have no way of knowing the full long term consequences of these foods on our health as they have not been around long enough to collect substantial data.
In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a moratorium on GM foods. The AAEM stated that “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food, and there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects.” Of even greater concern for us moms, biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute warns that “children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems related to GM foods”.
In it’s natural state, a salmon’s growth period is about three months out of 12. The growth hormone injected into the modified egg from the Eelpout turns this slow growth cycle into a perpetual one! Meaning that the salmon grows continually from birth until maturity, which takes about 18 months. We know all to well how devastating the impact of growth hormones found in dairy products can be on children — we are seeing young boys and girls show signs of puberty as early as 5 years old! Yet the FDA does not seem at all concerned about the potential impact of this particular aspect of the Frankenfish.All of the research that I have done on GM and GE foods leads me to the same conclusion : they are detrimental to our health and should be avoided at all cost.
Although ABT is lobbying vigorously to have it’s Frankenfish approved by the FDA, consumers are fighting hard. And I do pray we will prevail. You can sign a petition to urge the FDA to reject the approval of the AquaAvantage. The approval of this fish would open the door to all sorts of mutant animal products, and personally,I never want to serve those to my loved ones.
When it comes to feeding myself and my family, I have a very simple rule: eat food as close to the way God created it as possible. That means simply, stay away from anything that has been manipulated by men — processed foods and genetically modified (GMO) or genetically engineered (GE) foods.
Will you be serving the Frankenfish to your loved ones?
valerie, i literally have salmon in my fridge to cook for dinner tonight–thanks for the warning! thank goodness, no frankenfish 😉
xx, pia
You are welcome Pia! I love Salmon and it’s a fish we eat regularly because of it’s many benefits and the girls love it! So I pray this Frankenfish does not ever make it to our table.. I’d hate for my girls to be “live guinea pigs”
I just had this conversation with my husband last night and he thought I was crazy…Thank you I will be able to show him!!
Great to hear Kathy! Good luck with your husband 🙂
I am a firm believer in fighting against groups like Monsanto (round up or agent orange as it was originally called), and others like them. They care more about their bottom line than they do about the damage their experiments are doing to our world.
I recently heard about this “fish” not too long ago. The implications of directly changing the dna of anything are scarier than most nightmares we read about in fiction.
Monsato is scary indeed, Jeff. The fact that they are buying up organic seed brands to profit from us one way or another is quite concerning. When greed is the motivator, no good comes from it. Knowing that genetically modified seeds look no different than seeds that have not been manipulated who knows what they are really selling us! Yes we need to fight Monsato and the likes. And we should have full disclosure on what our food contains!
This is a scarey thought and one we must take very seriously. I love fish and enjoy the health benefits of it but I too do not want a “Frankenfish” on my plate. I wonder how we will be able to tell the difference between the mutant fish and the regular “natural” fish? 🙂
I think that’s the scariest part Susan! The FDA is ready to approve it because it looks and tastes the same as the natural fish so as far as they are concerned, it is the same and does not need to be identifies as Genetically Engineered or Genetically Modified. I find that horrific! If it does find itself in our grocery store, at least let me choose whether to consume it or not.
Agree with you completely about gentically modified food, Valerie.
It’s an absolutely sick invention made in the United States that has been exported to the rest of the world. Frequently without labels mentioning its genetically modified. But some corporations and farmers are earning a fortune as a result. And they also have influence on Capitol Hill and other US institutions. So we have not seen the end of it.
Maybe, if a lot of Americans start developing severe forms of cancer from eating genetially genified food something will be done. But even then the companies and farmers will manage to persuade people that they should continue with what they are doing:-)
It is insane how these American inventions are spreading across the world and poisoning people everywhere Catarina. But I do believe that enough Americans are sick and tired of being lied to and being fed foods that are slowly killing us rather than helping us thrive. And we are banding together and fighting in every way we can, starting with avoiding to buy the foods that we know have been modified. As long as we know of course.
I do pray other countries in the world don’t succumb to these evil ways. I know many European countries are being influenced but I remain hopeful that they will see the damage that comes from manipulating our food supply and fight to keep things as natural as possible.
I truly hope not!
Dealing with intolerances for years, I am really annoyed and angry at how all this crap is being sprayed, added, engineered etc. to our food. I do believe this is why I suffer so much.
I seriously have grave fears for our kids. I do try my best but when they don’t have to tell you….we are a little stuffed!
I’m sorry to hear about your food intolerances Becc. I discovered almost two years ago that I have a gluten sensitivity and eliminating gluten from my diet has been a Godsend! I do believe that a lot of auto-immune and other “modern diseases” have a strong connection to our food supply. It’s frightening to realize how much what we eat is determined by greed and not by what is best for us. Like you I fear for my kids. But I believe that we can and must stand firm and fight GMO’s, processed foods, sugar and all that crazy stuff that makes us sick and robs us from living life to the fullest. It may seem like a loosing battle at times, especially when we learn how much deception and lies we are faced with every day. But I’m determined to fight, for my own health and of course that of my children. It makes me so mad to think that the FDA could allow the Frankenfish int our grocery stores without being labeled in any special way, as my only choice will be to stop eating such a healthy food that I love so much!