Congress Moves to Ban Frankensalmon

June 17, 2011

House lawmakers have voted to ban the FDA from allowing the sale of GMO salmon. The amendment's goal is to prevent the approval of modified salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies.

One of the authors, Congressman Dan Young says, "My amendment cuts them off before they can get that far. Any approval of genetically modified salmon could seriously threaten wild salmon populations as they grow twice as fast and require much more food."

If the FDA were to approve the salmon, they would be mainly sterile and grown at inland fish farms. AquaBounty claims that the salmon would be contained, but environmental groups are concerned that they will escape. Another issue is that like other genetically modified foods, the salmon could end up in the grocery store without any labeling.

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