AquAdvantage Salmon

Genetically modified organisms seem to have the worst reputation in today’s society. It is understandable to want to know whether the food you are buying contains GMO’s or not and that seems to have made its way into our supermarkets. At the moment, the U.S. and Canada do not require mandatory identification of genetically modified products but stores like Whole Foods wish to inform their consumers. Whole foods announced recently that they will require its suppliers to label products containing GMO ingredients. Although there is still debate over the potential health repercussions of consuming GMO foods, people are still hesitant to eat it. The article discussed a 2010 poll that found that 91% of Americans said the FDA should not allow seafood that had been genetically modified, to be sold on the market. Many major grocery chains, which include, Trader Joe’s Aldi, Whole Foods, as well as others, refuse selling genetically modified fish. The reason for this ban being because the FDA is considering approving the first genetically engineered food, a strain of salmon.  At the end of last year the FDA said that the genetically engineered salmon was not likely to cause harm to the environment, this is what caused it to creep its way closer to supermarket fish counters. The AquAdvantage salmon is also mentioned and the advantages that may come with it, which included growing quickly and being able to raise it in land-based systems. Although some argue that by doing this we would have benefits to our economy, others do not.

In Emily Anthes book, she addresses this topic as well. She believes that if other nations start approving GMOs, this will put pressure on the United States and Canada to be more accepting of them. She discusses that although the AquAdvantage salmon pose no danger to us or the environment, the FDA has yet to approve this fish. She believes that by shutting out all genetically engineered products, we are losing “the good along with the bad.” She also goes on to say that “it is easy to oppose biotechnology… but when that technology can save your life, grand pronouncements about scientific evils tend to dissolve.” Meaning that although we can easily say that we do not want genetically engineered products, with a blink of an eye we change our views if that same thing can be beneficial to us.

Although it is easy to say that we would not like something because it is genetically modified, as was the case with the people polled about salmon, it can be seen that if there is no harm done why can we not use  these items. While it is easy to champion something that has backing and is proven to help us, it should be equally as easy to do so for something that has no harm to us.

References  

Anthes, Emily. Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts. New York: Scientific American, 2013. Print.

Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Grocery Chains Won’t Sell Genetically Modified Fish.” Time Magazine 21 Mar. 2013: N.p.,n.d.Web.