US regulators have licensed the production and consumption of a controversial genetically modified salmon.
After a review lasting several years the Food and Drug Administration found that the AquAdvantage Salmon, produced by AquaBounty Technologies, was safe to eat and “would not have a significant environmental impact” — marking the first time a GM animal has been approved as a human food.
Consumer and environmental campaigners have long resisted the salmon, arguing that the safety case was based on inadequate studies and that wild salmon populations might be adversely affected if GM fish escaped into the sea or rivers. They are pressing US supermarket groups to boycott AquAdvantage Salmon when it reaches the market — which is likely to be in 2017, at the earliest.