Would You Eat FrankenFood?
The following is a blog post from Dr. Chris Mohr
http://www.mohrresults.com
Would You Eat Genetically Modified Salmon?
Knowing where you food comes from is important. We’ve talked about it before — shop at farmer’s markets and buy local when possible. Of course that’s not always possible, particularly as we start getting into the winter months or with certain foods like fish … unless you’re on a coast or living on an island somewhere.
In landlocked Kentucky, we don’t have the option to buy “local” when it comes to fish.
And while we suggest eating fish regularly — up to 12 oz per week like the American Heart Association suggests – an article I read recently got me a little scared. Very scared, actually.
It was in the Washington Post and it was entitled “FDA rules won’t require labeling of genetically modified salmon.”
Something is fishy about all of this …
According to the article, there are apparently some loopholes among the regulations that may allow the FDA to not label the salmon so shoppers will not know if they’re picking up genetically modified salmon fillets for dinner.
SCARY!
The least we can ask for as consumers is to know where our food comes from and if it is genetically modified or not; then shoppers can make the decision if they want to buy it or not.
People in the biotechnology industry, however, suggest extra labeling just confuses consumers.
This is the first modified animal that is being considered — and here’s the deal with this “salmon” that is under question. It’s called “AquAdvantage salmon” – it’s been given a gene from an eel like fish that’s combined with a growth hormone from Chinook salmon.
The Industry loves it — this “AquAdvantage salmon” grows twice as fast as its natural counterpart.
Voila. Just like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat, we now can “create” a salmon essentially out of thin air that’s bigger than the real thing.
This is more than scary. Because if this actually does move forward and get approved, other animals are lined up behind it — beef, pork and other fish — all looking for federal approval.
Sounds like a bunch of Frankenfood to me.
I don’t want to eat food that’s been “created” in a lab somewhere, even if industry experts assure me it’s no different than the natural counterpart… I want to eat real food that nature provides us.
Mohr Results Bottom Line: Only buy wild salmon — it’s a better source of omega-3’s and has less pesticides anyhow. That will assure your salmon isn’t genetically modified. You don’t have to eat organic. You don’t have to just eat local. But eating REAL food should definitely be something you strive for in my opinion.
Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog 
October 11, 2010 at 4:31 pm
there are many ways to get the benefits of salmon without eating salmon grass feed beef kangaroo meat, krill oil, whole eggs- the question is how much of this stuff can we swallow before it effects our long term health?
October 11, 2010 at 6:15 am
FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
I don’t really have an opinion on its safety since I am just a layman when it comes to genetic engineering. My opinion is simply that if the product can pass stringent test and be considered safe by FDA(or other countries equivalent authorities) then I will consider it safe until contradicting studies appear. I see no reason to assume a product is safe or unsafe just because it happens to be genetically modified. Nobody is afraid to eat cows and pigs even though they are far from natural and a direct product of selective breeding for centuries.
If there is concrete proof something is harmful then pull it off the shelves, if there is no proof but plenty of tests to show there is no real reason to assume its unsafe, then there is no reason to spread fear. One can never prove anything is safe after all.
Putting the label “natural” on a food and claiming things with that label its superior to things without the label has no real meaning. That takes away attention from the real question, safety.
The reason I react very strongly to this kind of rhetoric is because I am working in another field that is constantly pummeled by FUD. There is also a moral aspect to it, the worlds population can never be feed by traditional agriculture or traditional fishing. GMO etc is in dire need. One should be critical, examine the safety of new technologies closely, but just refusing GMO outright because its unnatural means one is taking away support for a technology that is crucially needed to feed millions of mouths all over the world.
October 11, 2010 at 5:48 am
Johan- what is FUD? Do you think mixing eel genes with salmon genes is safe? Just curious.
October 11, 2010 at 2:25 am
I have to say that as long time reader of the blog I am quite disappointed with this scaremongering. Smells to much like FUD and very little science.
Things should always be labelled so consumers can make an active choice. But spreading FUD about GMO without there being any evidence that it is the slightest damaging is wrong. Same kind of unscientific negative campaiging as greens are using against nuclear.
October 10, 2010 at 4:57 pm
If I recall correctly, a lot of foods are genetically modified without being labeled for consumers.
October 9, 2010 at 7:03 am
Thanks Meaghan. I just filled out the petition. Hope all our readers will.
October 9, 2010 at 3:20 am
I read about this. The company behind it is based in Massachusetts, too. Check out the video:
Scary about the GMO pigs and cows already in the works… You can sign a petition to stop the FDA from approving GMO salmon here:
http://www.capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=15197336