Alaska\u2019s senior senator isn\u2019t backing off her fight to label genetically modified salmon, and she said Monday she\u2019ll go as far as blocking confirmation of the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s next commissioner.<\/p>\n
In a statement released Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she \u201cwill not stand back and just watch these genetically engineered creatures be placed in our kitchens and on our tables without a fight.<\/p>\n
The \u201ccreatures\u201d Murkowski refers to are the genetically engineered Atlantic salmon approved for human consumption by the FDA on Nov. 19. The fish, engineered by the Massachusetts-based company AquaBounty, grow at twice the rate of farm-raised Atlantic salmon due to a growth hormone gene from Pacific Chinook salmon and a genetic switch from the ocean pout, which keeps the growth hormone gene active year-round. <\/p>\n
Murkowski said she intends to block the confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as the new FDA chief as a way to continue her pursuit of mandatory labeling of \u201cfrankenfish.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mike Anderson, the spokesman for Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said by email the state\u2019s junior senator \u201csupports Senator Murkowski\u2019s efforts on this issue \u2014 which includes placing a hold on the FDA nominee.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Anderson, \u201cAt a minimum \u2014 these newly approved Frankenfish must (be) properly labeled so that Americans know exactly where their salmon came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alaska delegation and other lawmakers in the Pacific Northwest, whose fisheries stand the most to lose when the modified salmon hit market shelves in a couple of years, pushed for labeling regulations during the FDA\u2019s approval process of AquaBounty\u2019s AquAdvantage Salmon. Concerns are that when the modified fish are displayed next to the real thing, consumers won\u2019t know which is which.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am furious about this decision, but now I must do everything I can to make sure it is labeled \u2014 consumers have a right to know what it is they are eating,\u201d Murkowski said. <\/p>\n
The FDA has said the modified fish don\u2019t require additional labeling because there\u2019s no nutritional difference between them and natural fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon,\u201d the Associated Press reported the agency as saying. <\/p>\n
Murkowski doesn\u2019t see it that way. \u201cGenetically modifying salmon is messing with nature\u2019s perfect brain food,\u201d she said. \u201cThe real thing is not only the safe choice, but it\u2019s the best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2013, a New York Times poll found three-quarters of Americans had concerns about genetically engineered food, and 93 percent said they supported laws requiring the labeling of such foods.<\/p>\n
Murkowski also said she would continue supporting stores that will refuse to carry AquAdvantage Salmon. To date those stores include Costco, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe\u2019s, Whole Foods and Kroger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alaska\u2019s senior senator isn\u2019t backing off her fight to label genetically modified salmon, and she said Monday she\u2019ll go as far as blocking confirmation of the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s next commissioner. In a statement released Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she \u201cwill not stand back and just watch these genetically engineered creatures be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":16173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-16172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16172"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}