U.S. gov't approves first genetically engineered animal for food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thursday it has approved the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for food.

The FDA said in a statement it has approved an application from a small company called AquaBounty Technologies for AquAdvantage Salmon, an Atlantic salmon that grows more quickly than its non-GE farm-raised counterparts.

"The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat," Bernadette Dunham, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in the statement.

Ronald Stotish, chief executive officer of AquaBounty Technologies, called AquAdvantage Salmon "a game-changer," saying in a statement that the fish "brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats."

The United States currently imports over 90 percent of all the seafood, and more specifically over 95 percent of the Atlantic salmon it consumes, according to the company.

The FDA said it determined that food from AquAdvantage Salmon is "as safe to eat and as nutritious as" food from other non-GE Atlantic salmon and that there are "no biologically relevant differences" in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

The AquAdvantage Salmon may be raised only in land-based, contained hatchery tanks in two specific facilities in Canada and Panama, the U.S. regulator said, adding that the approval does not allow AquAdvantage Salmon to be bred or raised in the United States.

A series of multiple and redundant levels of physical barriers will be placed in the tanks and in the plumbing that carries water out of the facilities to prevent the escape of eggs and fish, it said.

The AquAdvantage Salmon are also reproductively sterile so that even in the highly unlikely event of an escape, they would be unable to interbreed or establish populations in the wild.

As a result, "the approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon application would not have a significant environmental impact," said the FDA.

The FDA said it will maintain regulatory oversight over the production and facilities, and will conduct inspections to confirm that adequate physical containment measures remain in place.

In addition, the Canadian and Panamanian governments will also be conducting inspections of the facilities, it said. Endite