In historic first, FDA approves genetically altered salmon

If you want to find the latest product approved by the FDA, don't bother with the pharmacy. Try the fish freezer.

The AquAdvantage Atlantic salmon has made history – along with a generous serving of controversy — by becoming the first genetically engineered food animal approved for sale in the U.S. Genetically modified fruits and vegetables have been sold for more than 20 years.

Because of its genetic modifications, the Food and Drug Administration said the new variety of salmon "meets the definition of a drug."

The AquAdvantage contains a gene from its close cousin, the Chinook salmon, as well as a bit of molecular machinery, takenfrom the ocean pout fish, which turns on the growth gene year-round, instead of only in the warmer months. The added genetic material helps the AquAdvantage salmon —  produced by AquaBounty Technologies, a Massachusetts biotechnology company — grow twice as fast as ordinary farmed salmon, even though they eat 10% less food.

Those traits offer clear advantages for fish farmers. The decision will have much less of an impact on consumers, said Gregory Jaffe, director of the biotechnology project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

That's because the new salmon will make up a tiny fraction of the overall market, he said. In general, genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, offer the biggest benefits to food producers. While genetically modified corn and soy beans may save money for farmers, they don't lower prices enough for shoppers to notice a difference, Jaffe said.

Q&A: What you need to know about genetically engineered foods

Critics of GMOs – who are worried about the products' health and environmental risk – already are calling for a boycott, even though AquaBounty hasn't yet announced when its salmon will be available. Although the FDA has said that AquAdvantage is just as safe and nutritious as other salmon, some worry that scientists can't completely understand the potential health risks of GMOs, simply because they're so new. Others worry that the fish could escape their enclosures, contaminating wild fish populations.

The FDA has said AquaBounty's extensive containment system makes it  "extremely unlikely that the fish could escape and establish themselves in the wild." The fish will be farmed in tanks on land, not in the water, in Panama and Canada.

Those assurances don't reassure everyone.

"Moms buy 85% of the food. If we don't buy it they can't sell it, regardless of the corrupt lawmaking," said Zen Honeycutt, founder of an advocacy group called Moms Across America, which opposes GMOs.

But boycotting AquAdvantage could be tricky.

That's because the salmon may not be labeled as genetically engineered. According to the FDA, there's no legal requirement for companies to label foods as genetically modified.

Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, has called on Congress to pass legislation requiring such labels.

For now, people who want to avoid GMOs should look for products whose manufacturers label them as organic or non-GMO, Jaffe said.

Fish fans can also choose wild-caught salmon. According to the FDA, none of these fish have been genetically altered.

Contributing: Elizabeth Weise.