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the FDA determines whether to approve the fish, an Atlantic salmon known as AquAdvantage that grows twice as fast as its natural counterpart.Thedecision carries great weight because, while genetically modified agri- culture has been permitted for years and engineered crops are widely used in processed foods, this would be the first modified animal allowed for human con- sumption in the United States.TheAquAdvantage salmon has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, and a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.
‘The publicwants to know’ Consumer advocates say they
worry about labeling for geneti- cally engineered beef, pork and other fish, which are lining up behind the salmon for federal approval. “The public wants to know and
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the public has a right to know,” saidMarionNestle, a professor in the Nutrition, Food Studies and PublicHealthDepartmentatNew YorkUniversity. “I think the agen- cy has discretion, but it’s under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without la- beling.” Thedebate willbetakenupthis
week, with an advisory commit- tee meeting Sunday and Monday on whether to allow the modified fish,andaseparatepanelmeeting Tuesday on whether the fish should be labeled.The panels will offer recommendations to the FDA commissioner, who will de- cide bothmatters. The biotechnology industry is opposed to mandatory labeling, saying it will only bewilder a pub- lic that is not well informed about genetic engineering. “Extra labeling only confuses
the consumer,” said David Ed- wards, director ofanimalbiotech- nology at the Biotechnology In- dustry Organization. “It differen- tiates products that are not differ- ent. As we stick more labels on products that don’t really tell us anything more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices.” The FDA defends its approach,
saying it is simply following the law, which prohibits misleading labels on food. And the fact that a food, in this case salmon, is pro-
duced through a different pro- cess, is not sufficient to require a label. The controversy comes at a
time when Americans seem to want to know more about their food—where it is grown,howit is produced and what it contains. Books criticizing industrial agri- culture have become bestsellers, farmers markets are expanding and organic food is among the fastest-growing segments of the food industry. The FDA itself is part of a new
effort to improve nutrition infor- mation on processed foods. In the European Union and
Japan, it is nearly impossible to find genetically modified foods, largely because laws require la- beling, said William K. Hallman, director of the Food Policy Insti- tute at Rutgers University. “No one wants to carry products with such a label,” he said. “The food companies figure that consumers won’t buy it.” There is nothing to stop salm-
on producers or food makers in the United States from voluntari- ly labeling their products as ge- netically engineered — except a fear of rejection in the market- place, Hallman said. “I don’t know of a single company that does that,” he said. The FDA maintains it can only
require labeling if a genetically engineered food is somehow dif- ferent from the conventional ver- sion—if ithasanunusualtexture, taste, nutritional component or allergen, for example. Although some consumer ad-
vocatesmaintainthereareimpor- tant differences, the agency’s sci- entists have already said they see no “biologically relevant” varia- tions between the AquAdvantage salmon and traditional salmon. Consumers could be certain of
getting the non-modified version if they bought salmon labeled as “wild,” but most salmon con- sumed in this country is farmed. Ever since the FDA approved
the first genetically altered mate- rial for use in food in 1992, when Monsanto developed a synthetic hormone injected into cows to increase milk production, the agency has held that it cannot require food producers to label products as genetically engi- neered. In the intervening years, the
use of genetically engineered crops has skyrocketed; 93 percent
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010 FDA won’t require labeling of salmon
of this year’s soybean crop is ge- netically engineered, according to the U.S. Agriculture Depart- ment.
Byproducts of those crops —
soy lecithin, for example — are found in thousands of processed foods from chocolate bars to breakfast cereal; none is labeled as containing genetically modi- fied ingredients.
No ‘Hormone Free’ either
The labeling matter is further complicated because theFDAhas maintained a tough stance for food makers who don’t use genet- ically engineered ingredients and wanttopromotetheirproducts as an alternative. The agency warned the dairy
industry in 1994 that it could not use “Hormone Free” labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered hormones, because all milk contains some hormones. It has sent a flurry of enforce-
ment letters to food makers, in- cluding B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase “GMO-free” on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label be- cause GMO refers to genetically modified organisms and straw- berries are produce, not organ- isms. It told the maker of Spectrum
Canola Oil that it could not use a label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words “GMO,” saying the symbol suggested that there was some- thing wrong with genetically en- gineered food. “This to me raises questions
about whose interest the FDA is protecting,” said Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has in- troduced legislation that would require labeling for genetically engineered food. “They are clear- ly protecting industry and not the public.” Onestate with a sizablesalmon
fishing industry — Alaska — passed a lawin 2005 that requires labeling of any genetically engi- neered fish sold there. “One side of the argument says let’s give consumers sovereignty over their food choices,”Hallman said. “The other says we’ve done the science on this and it’s no different, so if we put a label on it, we’re implying it’s somehow risky and that’s like government im- posed false advertising.”
laytonl@washpost.com
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