US Considers First Genetically Modified Animal for Food

04 October 2010

AquaBounty Technologies added growth genes from two other fish to Atlantic salmon, causing it to grow twice as fast

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Farmers in the United States have grown genetically engineered crops since the late nineteen nineties. Now, a federal agency is deciding whether to let a genetically modified animal into the food supply for the first time.

A company, AquaBounty Technologies, has developed the AquAdvantage Salmon. The fish is an Atlantic salmon that contains genes from two other kinds of fish: ocean pout and Chinook salmon.

With these genes, it can grow twice as fast as a wild Atlantic salmon. The company says the fish does not taste or smell any different from other salmon.

The Food and Drug Administration says there would be no need for special labeling if the salmon is found to have the same basic contents as other fish. But critics say the genetically changed salmon is different from other fish. They say if the FDA approves it for sale, people should be told what they are buying.

Americans eat mostly imported seafood. Last year that included a billion dollars worth of imported salmon, one of the top imports.

Most of the wild salmon caught in North America comes from Alaska. That state banned farmed salmon from its waters years ago.