Infected Salmon Eggs are Found in the Proposed GE-Salmon — Safety and Credibility are Now Major Issues

Written by Max Goldberg on December 20, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

I have been writing about the genetically-engineered salmon issue for quite a while now, and last week I put up a story about how Congress held hearings for the first-time ever about this FrankenFish.

As I mentioned in the post, it was a great step in raising awareness of this abhorrent technology and hopefully it will never get approved.

AquaBounty, the company that is trying to receive FDA approval for genetically-engineered salmon, has been telling the public that this “fish” is safe – safe for humans and safe for the environment, both of which is completely absurd in my opinion.

Now we have documentation that calls into serious question the credibility of AquaBounty and its willingness to tell the truth.

According to recently released documents (PDF file), AquaBounty’s research site in Canada was contaminated with a new strain of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA), the deadly fish flu that is devastating fish stocks around the globe. Read More »

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Congress Holds First Ever Hearing on Genetically-Engineered Salmon – An Extremely Positive Step

Written by Max Goldberg on December 15, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

When you follow the organic industry closely and care deeply about health, it is very easy to get frustrated with how our leaders place such little importance on organic.

While we do have a small number of organic advocates in Washington D.C., the overall policy that emanates from our government is one that supports genetically-modified food, largely because the GM-industry uses its vast resources to influence politicians and regulatory bodies.

And if you think the GM-industry hasn’t gotten to Obama, think again.

Not only did he renege on his promise to label genetically-modified food while on the campaign trail in 2007 but he supported the deregulation of genetically-engineered alfalfa, a policy that has disastrous implications for the organic dairy and meat industries. Read More »

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Our Tax Dollars are Now Being Used for Genetically-Engineered Salmon

Written by Max Goldberg on October 21, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

If you’ve been reading the news lately, you know that the Obama administration lost $535 million dollars on a loan to a failed solar panel company, Solyndra.

While it is totally inexcusable that we can be wasting money like this, at least the cause – solar energy – was noble. The same cannot be said for what the USDA just spent its money on.

The USDA recently announced a $500,000 grant to fund research for the development of genetically-engineered, sterile salmon. Read More »

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U.S. House of Representatives Passes Amendment to Prohibit Approval of Genetically-Engineered Salmon

Written by Max Goldberg on June 22, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

Very quietly last week, we got some positive news on the genetically-engineered (GE) salmon front.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment that prohibits the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from using any of its FY2012 funding to approve GE-salmon.

The amendment, which was put forth by Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), is part of the appropriations bill entitled The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2112). It passed by a 217-203 vote.

As it stands now, the FDA, instead of the USDA, has the legal power to approve all genetically-engineered animals through its new animal drug law. Yet, industry experts have a real problem with the way that the FDA handles the approval process. Read More »

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Nori – Is it Safe to Eat?

Written by Max Goldberg on April 22, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

The other day I did a post on the fantastic organic Nutty Nori Chips by Food on Purpose. When I bought the chips, I figured that the nori had been purchased many months before the earthquake in Japan and that there wasn’t much cause for concern.

Yet it did bring up an important issue, one that many readers have since contacted me about.

Given that so many people eat sushi or vegetable sushi rolls, is it safe to eat nori?

A Primer on Nori

Nori is a sea vegetable that is almost exclusively grown in the waters off of Japan, Korea and China. Read More »

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