GMO salmon approval turns up heat in U.S. labeling battle

By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A battle over whether the U.S.
government should require special labels for genetically
modified foods is set to heat up after a type of salmon on
Thursday became the first biotech animal approved for human
consumption.
Activists who argue that the farm-raised salmon poses risks
to the environment and public health say its clearance by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will galvanize opponents
to press for the fish to be labeled as genetically engineered.
Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups plan to
send letters to the FDA and members of Congress calling for a
law that requires labels. The groups have already successfully
lobbied major companies like and Kroger (N:KR) Co KR.N and Safeway
Ltd MRWAY.UL to say they will ban GMO salmon from their
stores. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13E42J
"The labeling battle is a particularly big deal," said Dana
Perls, food and technology campaigner for Friends of the Earth.
"People have a right to know what they're eating."
Companies that produce food with genetically modified (GMO)
ingredients worry that mandated labels could reduce consumer
demand and increase costs.
The first supplies of GMO salmon, which will be engineered
by AquaBounty Technologies Inc AQBT.PK to grow faster than
conventional fish, will likely arrive in U.S. supermarkets in
two years or more, after being raised in facilities in Canada
and Panama, Chief Executive Ronald Stotish told Reuters.
He said the company will follow the FDA's rules, which do
not require special labeling because the agency says the salmon
is nutritionally equivalent to conventional, farm-raised
Atlantic salmon.
If a company opts to label GMO salmon, the agency suggested
wording such as, "This salmon patty was made from Atlantic
salmon produced using modern biotechnology."
Sellers of other salmon may want to label products as being
not genetically engineered (GE) if they "want to assist
consumers in avoiding confusion about the limited scope of fish
products on the market that are genetically engineered," the FDA
said.
The agency is accepting public comments on its voluntary
labeling guidelines for 60 days starting on Nov. 23.
"We recognize that some consumers are interested in knowing
whether food ingredients are derived from GE sources," said
Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition.
The FDA's clearance of GMO salmon "will energize people to
fight and demand more labeling," said Michael Hansen, senior
staff scientist for the Consumers Union, who opposed the
approval.
In July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a hotly
debated measure that blocks any mandatory labeling of foods made
with genetically engineered crops, including pre-empting a state
law set to take effect next year in Vermont. The vote was a
victory for food and agricultural companies that say mandatory
labeling would burden them with unwieldy costs and requirements.
Since 2005, a state law in Alaska has required GMO fish to
be "conspicuously labeled," although the measure never needed to
be used. Fishermen would like to see a similar federal law so
that consumers know what they are eating, said Tyson Fick,
communications director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing
Institute.
More grocery store bans on GMO salmon would help ensure that
customers do not unknowingly eat the fish, said Patty Lovera,
assistant director for Food & Water Watch.
"It's an imperfect way, but it's what they leave us with
when they don't require labeling," she said about the
government.