For Immediate Release

April 11, 2014

Contacts:

Food & Water Watch - Rich Bindell, 202-683-2457, Rbindell@fwwatch.org

Center for Food Safety – Abigail Seiler, 202-547-9359, Aseiler@centerforfoodsafety.org  

Unlabeled GMO Salmon? Groups Call on FDA to Rein In Industry Claims 

Washington, D.C.—Food & Water Watch and Center for Food Safety called on FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg today to put an end to erroneous statements by AquaBounty Technologies Vice President, who recently told the press that FDA has already decided that the company’s GMO salmon will be sold without a label.

“FDA’s failure to take action on AquaBounty’s blatant misrepresentation of the facts typifies the agency’s entire hands-off regulatory review of GMO salmon,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “It also illustrates the dangerous level of miscommunication between FDA and AquaBounty that, historically, has caused the agency to overlook critical risks associated with GMO salmon.”

Today’s letter marks the third time that Food & Water Watch has asked the FDA to address the bogus statements by Aquabounty and correct the public record.  To date, FDA has failed to take action, allowing AquaBounty’s patently false statements to circulate in the media and confuse the public. FDA has long stated that it would not make its labeling decision until it makes its regulatory approval decision, which has not happened.

"Aquabounty is misrepresenting the facts, and FDA appears to be letting them get away with it.  If approved, this would be the first ever genetically engineered animal, making it all the more imperative that there is no confusion about the facts. FDA has a responsibility to prevent deception among consumers and it has failed in that duty," said George Kimbrell, senior attorney for Center for Food Safety.

AquaBounty’s erroneous statements about labeling appear to follow a long line of misstatements or missing disclosures from the company.  As just one example, the company apparently failed to disclose unfavorable news to FDA about a major biosecurity lapse in 2009, when a fatal disease entered AquaBounty’s Canadian facility, causing the company to take emergency action to depopulate much of the facility. 

“We hope that AquaBounty knows that FDA has not made a decision on labeling,” said Hauter. “The company’s behavior does not instill confidence that AquaBounty can raise the riskiest fish in the world. ”

Letter to the FDA Commissioner: http://fwwat.ch/1sHVmVz

Fish Farming Xpert article from March 14, 2014: http://fwwat.ch/1lNN0aZ

Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.www.foodandwaterwatch.org

Center for Food Safety is a national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. CFS maintains offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. More information can be found at www.centerforfoodsafety.org.

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