The following is a blog post from Dr. Chris Mohr, 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.
