The first genetically modified food animal has been approved for sale in Canada.
At a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced AquaBounty’s genetically modified salmon has been approved for sale as food in Canada.
A final round of thorough and rigorous Canadian scientific reviews found that AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe and nutritious as conventional salmon, according to technical briefing documents provided by Health Canada.
The same conclusion was reached by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010, but it took until November 2015 for the agency to approve the fish for sale as food in that country. That decision is being challenged by a group of environmental, consumer, and commercial and recreational fishing organizations.
AquAdvantage Salmon was developed by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies.
The fish grow twice as fast as conventionally farmed Atlantic salmon because of the addition of genes from a Chinook salmon and an eel known as an ocean pout.
‘More common every day’
“GM foods are becoming more common every day and are part of the regular diets of Canadians. GM foods that have been approved by Health Canada have been consumed in Canada for many years, and are safe and nutritious,” wrote Health Canada.
“Changes to the genes of plants and animals can improve food quality and production — for instance by reducing the need for pesticides, making crops resistant to drought, preventing bruising, or allowing foods to be grown more quickly.”
All genetically modified food previously approved by Health Canada have been crops.
AquaBounty salmon is the first genetically modified food animal to be approved for sale in Canada. (AquaBounty)
Thorough, rigorous Canadian reviews
The Canadian scientific reviews included an investigation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada into the environmental and indirect human health risks associated with AquaBounty’s egg production plant in Bay Fortune, P.E.I.
That assessment, done in 2013, led Environment Canada to approve the genetically modified eggs for commercial production later that year. Those eggs are grown into adult fish at an AquaBounty facility in Panama.
Health Canada will not require AquAdvantage Salmon sold on Canadian grocery store shelves to be labelled as a genetically modified product.
The regulations state that’s only required when there are health risks, like a potential food allergy, or significant changes to the nutritional qualities of the food.
Health Canada said that is not the case with AquAdvantage Salmon.