On Friday, The Food and Drug Administration announced that it is lifting an import alert that stopped genetically engineered salmon from entering the US.
The salmon, called “Frankenfish” by some, won FDA approval in 2015, the first approval of a genetically engineered animal intended for food.
After years of review, The FDA had deemed food from the AquaAdvantage Salmon safe to eat in 2015 and said there is no biological difference between these salmon and nongenetically engineered salmon.
In 2016, Congress blocked the FDA from allowing the fish to be sold in the US until it finalized labelling guidelines to inform consumers the product was genetically engineered. The FDA then went ahead and implemented the import alert.
Congress additionally passed a law that year guiding the US Department of Agriculture to set a national obligatory standard for revealing bioengineered nourishments. In December, the USDA issued the standard, requiring makers, merchants and certain retailers to unveil whether an item was bioengineered utilizing either message, an image, an electronic or computerized connect, and add an instant message.
On Friday, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said because of the 2016 law and the USDA’s standard, his agency “no longer has the authority to issue labelling guidance.”
“However, the FDA believes this Congressional mandate has been satisfied by the USDA’s issuance of final regulations implementing that law in late 2018 because the law and regulations require that human food containing GE salmon bear labelling indicating that it is bioengineered,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
The FDA will currently permit AquaAdvantage Salmon eggs, delivered by AquaBounty, to be imported to the organization’s territory based office in Indiana and raised into salmon for sustenance. The AquaAdvantage Salmon develops all year and becomes quicker than homestead raised Atlantic salmon.
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