[Ngo-sanrm] The first genetically modified animal ever to enter our food supply

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Sun Feb 3 05:33:38 GMT 2013


Some of you may have received the warning below already.  For now, this should have little impact on Vietnamese fishing -- but we don't know the consequences in the future.

The response that CREDO is asking for should be submitted by U.S. citizens only, I suppose, because the agency making this decision is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- so likely the FDA would ignore any input from people who are not Americans.  


If this is approved, and GMO salmon are released into the wild so that the entire salmon population is contaminated, many people will stop eating salmon -- completely.  So for fishermen and fish breeders, it will become very counter-productive and maybe destructive to a whole way of life.


CHUCK 


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CHUCK SEARCY
25 Truong Han Sieu, #302, Hanoi, Vietnam
Mobile:    +84 (0) 903 420 769
Email:       chucksearcy at yahoo.com
Skype:      chucksearcy
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Late last year the FDA quietly took a major step toward approving the "frankenfish," AquaBounty's  genetically modified salmon.
Its approval would be a radical move by the FDA — the first genetically modified animal ever to enter our food supply. It's no wonder the FDA posted its final review, clearing the way for approval, on the Friday before the Christmas holiday,
when few people would notice.
The FDA is now taking public comments on its study, which is expected to lead to approval of the frankenfish. This is our
last chance to keep GMO salmon off our grocery store shelves, and stop the dangerous trend of introducing GM animals into
our food supply.
Tell the FDA: Don't approve GMO salmon. Submit a public comment now.  
AquaBounty's frankenfish is an Atlantic salmon, spliced with genes from an eel pout and growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.
The result is a salmon that produces growth hormone year-round and grows twice as fast. The risks are myriad.
The fish hasn't been proven safe for humans. But the FDA is preparing to approve it based on a limited, flawed and inadequate
study — even though the same study identified elevated allergy-causing potential,1 and elevated levels
of the IGF-1 growth hormone, which is linked to colon, prostate and breast cancers. Clearly more study is needed to determine
the safety or danger of GMO salmon.2
Were GMO salmon to escape its farms into the wild, the fish would pose a serious risk to wild salmon populations. The
GMO salmon consume five times more food than wild salmon, and are more aggressive. Introducing these traits into the wild
population would be serious — and irreversible.3
Separate from any risks, the GMO salmon are less healthy to eat — producing less of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids
than conventional salmon — and a less efficient food source — requiring 1.5 to 8 kilograms of wild fish to produce
one kilogram of conventional farmed salmon.
Worse still, without GMO labeling, these frankenfish would be totally unlabeled on store shelves, and indistinguishable from
other farmed salmon, so consumers will have no way of making an informed choice.
Tell the FDA: Don't approve GMO salmon. Submit a public comment now. 
The White House knows that the public is opposed to GMO salmon and is feeling our pressure.
A recent report even documents that the White House may have delayed the release of the FDA assessment, which was completed
in May, until after the election, to avoid upsetting the president's political base.4
Significant public opposition in this comment period is our best shot at preventing approval of GMO salmon. But this is our
last chance. So now is the time to make your voice heard. Submit a comment now: 
 http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6996284&p=gmo_salmon&id=54198-243062-nxFO7Ux&t=5
Thanks for fighting for safe food.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager 
 CREDO Action from Working Assets
Automatically add your name:     
Learn more about this campaign  
1. "Consumers Union Says FDA Assessment of GE Salmon
Is Flawed and Inadequate," Consumers Union, 12/21/12
2. "AquAdvantage Salmon Ready for Commerce?,"
Permaculture News, 9/23/10
3. "Tell the FDA: No Frankenfish," Organic
Consumers Union
4. "White House Ends Its Interference in a Scientific
Review," Slate, 12/21/12
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