Title:
US Considers First Genetically Modified Animal for
Food
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
Farmers in the United States have grown genetically
engineered crops since the late nineteen nineties.
Now, a federal agency is deciding whether to let a
genetically modified animal into the food supply for
the first time. A company, AquaBounty Technologies,
has developed the AquAdvantage Salmon. The fish is
an Atlantic salmon that contains genes from two
other kinds of fish: ocean pout and Chinook salmon.
With these genes, it can grow twice as fast as a
wild Atlantic salmon. The company says the fish does
not taste or smell any different from other salmon.
The Food and Drug Administration says there would be
no need for special labeling if the salmon is found
to have the same basic contents as other fish. But
critics say the genetically changed salmon is
different from other fish. They say if the FDA
approves it for sale, people should be told what
they are buying. Americans eat mostly imported
seafood. Last year that included a billion dollars
worth of imported salmon, one of the top imports.
Most of the wild salmon caught in North America
comes from Alaska. That state banned farmed salmon
from its waters years ago.Alaska Senator Mark Begich
is leading a group of other United States senators,
organizations and businesses to try to stop the FDA
approval process. Wenonah Hauter of the activist
group Food and Water Watch says the AquAdvantage
Salmon has not been studied enough for food safety.
She says the three studies have very small samples.
The data is not available to the public. And one of
the studies is nineteen years old.Ms. Hauter worries
that the farmed fish could escape into waterways and
reproduce with wild populations. And she says the
idea could spread to other countries. She says there
are fish farming operations in China that are very
interested in this and that have a poor record of
enforcing rules. But the company says most of its
fish are raised at inland fish farms. And it has
promised the Food and Drug Administration that it
would only market female salmon unable to reproduce.
David Edwards at the Biotechnology Industry
Organization says the genetically modified fish is
"just a new technology." He says he is willing to
eat the fish if the FDA says it is safe. What are
your thoughts on this subject? You can post comments
at voaspecialenglish.com. For VOA Special English
I'm Alex Villarreal.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
