(NaturalNews) As the FDA stands poised to approve genetically modified (GM) salmon safe for public consumption, the next logical question concerns how GM salmon would be labeled. Would the fish come with a large red warning that says, "Genetically modified salmon"?
As it turns out, no. In fact, the FDA has already gone on the record stating
it will not require any special labeling of genetically modified salmon. You, the consumer, just have to take a wild guess because
you're not allowed to know what you're really eating.
The biotech industry takes this absurdity one step further by claiming that labeling GM foods would just "confuse" consumers. David Edwards, the director of animal biotechnology at the
Biotechnology Industry Organization, explained it in this way: "Extra labeling only confuses the consumer," he says. "It differentiates products that are not different."
Except that they are different. If they were really no different, then AquAdvantage company wouldn't be growing them. The whole point of genetically modified salmon is that they are
modified with extra growth hormone genes to make them grow more quickly. I don't know where David Edwards is getting his information, but in the rest of the world, when something is different, that means it's
different.
If it's no different, then why are so many GM salmon processes patented? If it's no different, there would be nothing to patent. The entire purpose of a patent is to make a legal claim that "we invented something different" and we own the monopoly rights to it.
The GM
salmon industry can't have it both ways, you see. They can't claim it's so unique that their technologies and animals should be proprietary or patented, yet when it comes to food labeling, they claim there are no differences. It's either different or it isn't, and in the case of GM salmon, only an outright liar would look you in the eye and claim GM salmon is identical to regular farmed salmon or wild-caught salmon.
FDA insists on keeping people in the dark
The FDA, for its sad part in this saga, claims that it would be
against the law to require the honest labeling of GM foods. This agency claims that since GM salmon is identical to regular salmon (it's "no different" once again, they say), they can't require it to be labeled any differently.
Except, of course, it is different. The genetic code of GM salmon is provably different, and since that genetic code is imprinted in every cell of the fish flesh, consumers are buying
genetically modified fish with a different genetic code whose sole purpose was to alter the biochemistry of that fish so that it would grow larger more quickly. Thus, the physical expression of GM salmon is, by definition, different from the physical expression of regular salmon.
When you eat genetically modified salmon, you are eating something that's
different from regular (natural) salmon.
Word game trickery
What the FDA and biotech industries are doing with the GM salmon issue is
playing word games, trying to confuse consumers with sleight-of-mouth language intentionally designed to mislead and misinform. They've already decided they want to approve GM salmon and they don't want it to be accurately labeled. In essence,
they want to trick consumers into buying GM salmon by making them think it's natural salmon.
The trouble with this
FDA hucksterism is that
the people aren't as stupid as the FDA thinks, and they aren't going to be fooled by this genetically engineered salmon. That's because the minute the FDA approves this Frankenfish, NaturalNews.com and a long list of other websites are going to alert the whole world to the simple truths of the matter:
Truth #1) Genetically engineered salmon is different from regular salmon.
Truth #2) The FDA is going out of its way to make sure GM salmon isn't accurately labeled.
This is a Frankenfood cover-up, pure and simple, and the public is going to be outraged that the FDA would introduce a genetically engineered fish into the food supply without even requiring it to be accurately labeled!
Watch NaturalNews for more breaking coverage of this issue
We'll be watching this issue very closely, waiting for the FDA's final decision. If the FDA decides to yet again betray the American public over this issue, we won't be at all surprised. But we will be vigilant, and we will ask for your help to spread the word and take action to demand that genetically modified salmon be accurately labeled so that consumers know what they're actually buying.
Gee, you would think the FDA might be interested in food labeling honesty. But of course, the more you learn about the FDA, the more you realize every decision the agency makes is
a political decision that betrays the rights and safety of the American people.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to eat genetically modified salmon. And I don't want the FDA shoving this down my throat by making me try to guess which salmon is real versus artificially engineered. This Frankenfood shell game must end!
Watch for more news updates on this issue from NaturalNews.com.
Sources for this story include:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR201...
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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