[Lamplighter]

Washington Post
Brady Dennis
10/18/13

A new method against genetically modified salmon:
Get retailers to refuse to sell it

Consumer and environmental activists, facing likely defeat in their bid to block
government approval of the first genetically engineered salmon,
are trying a different tack to keep the fish off America’s dinner plates:
Getting retailers not to sell it. And they’re making headway.

Some of the nation’s most recognizable chains
— including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Target —
have agreed in recent months to steer clear of the fish.
A spokeswoman for Safeway, the nation’s second-largest grocery chain,
said the chain doesn’t have “any plans to carry GE salmon.”
Activists are pressing Kroger, the country’s largest grocer, to make a similar commitment.
<snip>

Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies first applied for
permission to sell its genetically altered salmon in 1995.
Its AquAdvantage salmon consists of an Atlantic salmon containing a growth hormone
from a Chinook salmon and a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish.
The result: A fish that grows to market size in about half the time as a traditional salmon.

For years, opponents have argued there’s not enough data to prove the salmon is safe to eat.
They have also warned there could be devastating environmental consequences
if the fish were to escape confinement and breed with wild salmon.

Of course, people could refuse to buy it.

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