Brandon Turbeville
February 8, 2018
In a surprising turn of events, a U.S. federal court has ruled in favor of the public interest. Even more surprising, the court ruled against the FDA which has been pushing the approval of GE salmon for human consumption.
The approval of the GE salmon, which is made from the DNA of Pacific Chinook Salmon, Atlantic Salmon and Deepwater Ocean Eel Pout, took place in 2015. However, the battle has been raging long before and after that date. The FDA, while launching a jihad against natural supplements and kratom, became the first government agency in the world to approve a GM animal for commercial sale and consumption.
Apparently the “every possible danger must be hyped, examined and exploited for a ban” methodology only applies to harmless substances and those that improve the health and livelihoods of the average American. When it comes to those substances which could potentially harm large amounts of people, or eradicate entire species of animals, the FDA takes a hands-off approach.
This time around, many experts have expressed concern with GE salmon, including biologists at U.S. Wildlife agencies who work with fish and wildlife, criticizing the FDA for not properly investigating the potential impacts. The FDA while jumping on the bandwagon of every distorted story in regards to kratom and natural supplements, ignored these professionals with real concerns. As a result, on March 2016, Earth Justice filed a lawsuit against the FDA. The lawsuit required the FDA to compile a record of research and documents that led up the FDA decision to approve GE salmon. The lawsuit requires a complete record.
At the time of the writing of this article, the FDA has refused to release most of the documents related to its decision despite a number of clients requesting those documents under FOIA. As Earth Justice states,
In a surprising turn of events, a U.S. federal court has ruled in favor of the public interest. Even more surprising, the court ruled against the FDA which has been pushing the approval of GE salmon for human consumption.
The approval of the GE salmon, which is made from the DNA of Pacific Chinook Salmon, Atlantic Salmon and Deepwater Ocean Eel Pout, took place in 2015. However, the battle has been raging long before and after that date. The FDA, while launching a jihad against natural supplements and kratom, became the first government agency in the world to approve a GM animal for commercial sale and consumption.
Apparently the “every possible danger must be hyped, examined and exploited for a ban” methodology only applies to harmless substances and those that improve the health and livelihoods of the average American. When it comes to those substances which could potentially harm large amounts of people, or eradicate entire species of animals, the FDA takes a hands-off approach.
This time around, many experts have expressed concern with GE salmon, including biologists at U.S. Wildlife agencies who work with fish and wildlife, criticizing the FDA for not properly investigating the potential impacts. The FDA while jumping on the bandwagon of every distorted story in regards to kratom and natural supplements, ignored these professionals with real concerns. As a result, on March 2016, Earth Justice filed a lawsuit against the FDA. The lawsuit required the FDA to compile a record of research and documents that led up the FDA decision to approve GE salmon. The lawsuit requires a complete record.
At the time of the writing of this article, the FDA has refused to release most of the documents related to its decision despite a number of clients requesting those documents under FOIA. As Earth Justice states,
