Is genetically engineered salmon safe to eat?

Wager: “Yes, it is. Extensive testing over almost two decades has clearly demonstrated GE (genetically engineered) salmon has the same nutritional profile as non-GE-salmon of the same species.  The FDA in the United States and Health Canada have both stated GE salmon is as safe as non-GE salmon.”

Does it taste the same as other salmon?

Wager: “GE salmon has the same flavour, texture and nutritional aspects as the non-GE Atlantic salmon.  Each species of salmon tastes a little different owing to fat content, diet of the species etc.  Most consumers enjoy the flavour of all the species of salmon (five Pacific species and Atlantic salmon).”

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist, Animal Genomics and Biotechnology at the University of California-Davis, explained in this Best Food Facts article how the fish was developed.

Dr. Van Eenennaam: “Over a quarter of a century ago, a construct that contains a snippet of DNA encoding a growth hormone from the king salmon, connected to DNA regulatory sequences from the ocean pout, was added to the eggs of an Atlantic salmon spawn. A fast-growing fish was selected out of that spawn and was shown to be carrying the construct in its DNA. Since that time, the construct has been stably transmitted through normal inheritance over many generations, in the same way that I passed on my blue eyes to my kids.”

Are there any benefits to the genetically engineered salmon?

Wager: “There are significant benefits to this salmon.  Because this salmon grows at twice the rate as non-GE Atlantic salmon, it will consume far less feed to obtain market weight.  Salmon feed has small finfish (anchovies and related fish) as a major component.  It is clear wild fisheries for small finfish are being overharvested.  Therefore, increasing the feed-to-meat conversion rate could help reduce the stress on wild finfish stocks.”

In addition, Wager noted that demand for salmon continues to rise and the new salmon can reduce the harvesting of wild salmon to ensure the continued survival of wild species.

“We cannot protect the wild salmon by eating wild salmon,” he said.

The AquaBounty salmon is farm raised. Can it still be a healthy food if it is farmed, instead of wild caught?

Wager: “Farmed fish is not only safe to eat, salmon is recommended to be a regular part of a healthy diet. Trace amounts of PCB’s and mercury (far below allowable limits) found in wild and farmed salmon are of zero health concern while the levels of heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids are high in all salmon and highest in farmed Atlantic salmon. Salmon should be a regular part of the diet of pregnant women as the omega 3 fatty acids are essential for fetal neural development. The only significant difference between farmed fish and wild fish is the fat and protein content. Farmed salmon have a slightly higher fat content (which why they contain more omega 3 fatty acid) while wild salmon have a slightly higher protein content.”

Only significant difference between farmed fish and wild fish is protein and fat content.
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What measurements are put in place to prevent the salmon from cross-breeding with native species?

Wager: GE salmon are triploid (three sets of chromosomes compared to the normal two sets ).  Triploid organisms are sterile, meaning they cannot reproduce.  Other common triploid foods include bananas and seedless watermelons.  This added safeguard means that in the very unlikely event of a GE salmon escaping to the wild, it would not be able to breed with wild Atlantic salmon or any other species of salmon.

The salmon will not be labeled as genetically modified. Why?

Wager: “In Canada, we do not label food based on the breeding method used to create the food/crop.  Therefore there is no specific label to identify the GE salmon as being a product of genetic engineering.  Some feel this hides important facts from the consumer. In Canada we label food for nutritional content and potential allergen content.  Neither of these are different for GE salmon and therefore there is no unique label required for this food product.”

He also noted that although the AquaBounty salmon is the first genetically engineered animal food product on the market, Canadians have been consuming foods derived from GE crops for over 20 years.

Wager: “There has never been a documented case of harm from consuming food derived from GE crops.  The first GE crops dealt mainly with traits important to the farmer: herbicide tolerance for weed control and insect resistance to reduce insecticide use and yield loss.  GE crops allowed farmers to produce more food on the same land with less environmental impact.”

What might this mean for other genetically engineered foods to be introduced?

Wager: “With each year the public is learning more about how GE crops and derived foods are contributing to safe affordable food for Canadians.  As the public becomes more familiar with these food products the market will increase the offerings.  There are a great many wonderful traits with environmental, economic and health benefits that are working their way through the regulatory system.

“Today we are seeing a new set of GE crops with consumer-oriented traits coming on the market.  Better flavour, enhanced nutritional content, bruise resistance, will soon increase the variety of GE crops in the marketplace.  In the more distant future GE products like artificial meat, hypoallergenic peanuts, gluten-free wheat etc., may enjoy significant market share.”

Genetically modified salmon are now on the market in Canada. The animals grow more quickly, using less feed so they are a sustainable option. The salmon is safe to eat and offers the nutritional benefits of omega 3 fatty acids. This is the first genetically modified animal food product and may be the first of many that will provide benefits for consumers.

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There are many good reasons to give your heart some tender loving care. It works around the clock, non-stop every moment of your life. Keeping it strong with a healthy diet and exercise makes your heart stronger so it is more efficient at pumping blood throughout your body.

A healthy ticker is also a ticket to a longer life. Cardiac disease the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. In fact, one in four deaths is linked to heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

To help your heart beat at its best, we’ve put together this list of foods that are good for your heart.

Salmon: Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acid. These compounds lower heart rate and blood pressure, and they improve the health of blood vessels. The recommendation is to eat fish such as salmon twice a week. Harvard Women’s Health Watch

Avocados: Eating an avocado every day as part of a heart healthy diet can help improve cholesterol levels in overweight and obese people. American Heart Association

Nuts: Tree nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and cashews, contain unsaturated fat, as well as fiber and nutrients. Studies have found that people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks. Harvard School of Public Health

Vegetables: Vegetables top any list of heart healthy foods because they are rich in fiber and vitamins and low in calories. Mix in a variety of vegetables and those that are deeply colored – such as spinach, carrots and berries – because they have the highest content of micronutrients. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Beans: They’re good for your heart. Beans are low in fat, high in fiber and packed with protein. Research has shown consuming beans as a regular part of the diet helps lower cholesterol. USDA Agricultural Research Service

Herbs: Most Americans consume too much sodium, which contributes to high blood pressure. One way to cut down on the amount of salt in dishes is to try other flavors, such as fresh herbs, spices like turmeric and pepper, garlic and lemon. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

These are all some good foods to try this month to show some love to your heart.

The post Foods That Are Good For Your Heart appeared first on Best Food Facts.

Functional Foods
People became less concerned about eliminating foods from their diets and focused on what they should add in 2016. These “functional foods” contribute health benefits to the diet. We looked at some of these claims for foods including sprouted grains, apple cider vinegar, probiotics, turmeric and omega 3.

Simple Ingredients
Food companies focused on using easy-to-understand ingredients in their products in 2016. Many of the changes were sparked by consumers who want more natural ingredients. Best Food Facts asked If I can’t pronounce an ingredient is it bad? and our experts answered.

Genetically Modified Foods
Advances continued to be made in 2016 with new genetically modified foods introduced. We learned about a genetically engineered apple that does not turn brown when sliced and even got to sample it. Other new foods are a specially developed salmon that grows at a quicker rate and a potato that resists bruising and browning.

Antibiotics
Several restaurants and retailers announced plans to source meat from animals that are not treated with antibiotics. The issue raised awareness of how important antibiotics are in human health and protecting the health of animals. We did a four-part video series on antibiotics, looking at the issues surrounding resistance, how to understand food labels and best practices in the kitchen when preparing meat.

Cauliflower is Everywhere
The humble cauliflower became the star of the show in 2016. It was roasted, riced, made into pizza crust, in mac and cheese – you name it, cauliflower did it this year. The advice from the experts at Best Food Facts is Eat Your Veggies, so any way to incorporate more healthy vegetables into daily meals is a welcome addition.

Meal Kit Delivery
This year, meal kit delivery became mainstream. Some big name companies were joined by local start-ups` in offering to deliver the ingredients to cook a meal at home. The service appeals to many because it combines convenience with the goodness of a home cooked meal. Best Food Facts provided some tips on monthly meal planning.

What do you think was the biggest trend of the year? Let us know by voting in the poll!

The post Food Trends of 2016 appeared first on Best Food Facts.

What are omega-3 fatty acids?

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat. There are three main types of omega-3 fatty acids: EPA, DHA and ALA.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are found mainly in fish and are sometimes called marine omega-3s. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the most common omega-3 fatty acid in most Western diets, and is found in vegetable oils and nuts (especially walnuts), flax seeds and flaxseed oil, leafy vegetables and some animal fat, especially grass-fed animals. The human body generally uses ALA for energy, and conversion into EPA and DHA is very limited. While the human body can make most of the types of fats it needs from other fats or raw materials, this isn’t the case for omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats because the body can’t make them and we must get them from food.

What are the health benefits of including omega-3 fatty acids in a balanced diet?

Omega-3 fatty acids are an important part of cell membranes throughout the body and affect the function of the cell receptors in these membranes. They provide the starting point for making hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. They also bind to receptors in cells that regulate genetic function. Likely due to these effects, omega-3 fats have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema and rheumatoid arthritis, and may play protective roles in cancer and other conditions.

What foods are omega-3 fatty acids found in?

Fatty fishes like salmon, albacore tuna (both fresh and canned), sardines, lake trout and mackerel, walnuts, soybeans, chia seeds, seaweed and all vegetable oils.

Start incorporating more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet with these tasty recipes:

Sweet Glazed Salmon with Peach Salsa, The Cookie Rookie

Lemony Smoked Trout Dip, Bon Appetit

Berry Chia Overnight Oats, Pinch of Yum

Cilantro-Lime Sardine Salad in Avocado Halves, The Kitchn

Sour Cream and Onion Tuna Noodle Casserole, The Pioneer Woman

The post Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids appeared first on Best Food Facts.

Corn (field & sweet)
The GM version of field corn protects the crop against corn rootworms and the Asian corn borer. Like GM field corn, GM sweet corn also protects the crop against destructive pests.

Soybeans
The GM soybean plant is resistant to pests and disease as well as being tolerant of herbicides that are most effective, allowing for less herbicide use overall.

Cotton
GM cotton requires fewer pesticides and protects against the cotton bollworm.

Canola
Canola has been modified through biotechnology to make it tolerant to some herbicides. This allows for a reduced amount of chemicals needed for weed control. The modified plant also has resistance to pests and fungus.

Alfalfa
The GM version of alfalfa is tolerant of some herbicides, allowing for a reduced amount of chemicals needed for weed control.

Sugar Beets
The GM sugar beet has increased tolerance to some herbicides, allowing for a reduced amount of chemicals needed for weed control. GM sugar beets also have virus and pest resistance traits.

Papaya
The GM version of papaya makes the plant resistant to the prevalent Papaya Ringspot Virus.

Squash
GM squash has traits that improve the plant’s defense against viruses.

Arctic Apple
Developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits of British Columbia, Canada, this new fruit was developed by turning off the enzyme in apples that cause them to brown when cut, bruised or bitten.

Innate Potato
This new potato that resists browning and has fewer unsightly wasteful bruises has been approved by the USDA for commercial planting.

Aquabounty Salmon
This new salmon is genetically engineered to reach market size more quickly than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon. It is available to consumers in Canada.

Want to learn more about GMOs from the experts? Try these posts:

What does a GMO look like?
GMO FAQs

Lasted edited Aug. 15, 2016
Originally posted  Nov. 13, 2014

_{“Produce” by lukestehr is licensed under CC BY ND.}

The post What Foods are Genetically Modified? appeared first on Best Food Facts.

To help answer these questions, we talked with Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist, Animal Genomics and Biotechnology at the University of California-Davis.

How does genetically engineered salmon differ from conventional salmon?

Dr. Van Eenennaam:

The AquAdvantage salmon is a fast-growing Atlantic salmon. It is able to reach market weight in about half the time it takes conventional salmon and, as a result, requires about 20 percent less feed. This means a fillet of salmon can be produced more efficiently using less feed, decreasing the environmental footprint.

Why was this salmon genetically engineered?

Dr. Van Eenennaam:

This salmon was designed to continuously grow throughout the year, rather than decreasing growth in the winter months. Wild salmon typically grow more slowly due to feed scarcity in the colder winter months. AquAdvantage is growing its salmon in tanks, and will provide adequate feed to allow for consistent growth.

Does GE salmon offer any benefits?

Dr. Van Eenennaam:

This salmon enables a more sustainable approach to the production of Atlantic salmon. Currently, Atlantic salmon makes up over half of the salmon consumed in the U.S., and it is farmed in ocean-based net pens and imported from countries including Scotland, Chile and Canada. These facilities have some deleterious environmental impacts including pollution, escapement and the transmission of disease and pests from wild fish to the cultured fish, and vice versa. The efficiency of AquAdvantage allows for land-based production of Atlantic salmon to become a cost-effective proposition. The company is planning to grow the fish in contained tanks, which will preclude some of the environmental concerns associated with net pen-based aquaculture.

AquAdvantage Salmon enables a more sustainable approach to the production of Atlantic salmon.
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How is the salmon genetically engineered?

Dr. Van Eenennaam:

Over a quarter of a century ago, a construct that contains a snippet of DNA encoding a growth hormone from the king salmon connected to DNA regulatory sequences from the ocean pout was added to the eggs of an Atlantic salmon spawn. A fast-growing fish was selected out of that spawn and was shown to be carrying the construct in its DNA. Since that time, the construct has been stably transmitted through normal inheritance over many generations, in the same way that I passed on my blue eyes to my kids.

Are there any safety concerns regarding consumption of the GE salmon?

Dr. Van Eenennaam:

The salmon is basically a fast-growing fish. This is a trait that is selected in many breeding programs. Because this particular line was produced through genetic engineering, it underwent a mandatory evaluation by the FDA. They found the fish was as safe to eat as conventional salmon and, under the proposed land-based growing conditions at a farm in the highlands of Panama, posed minimal risk to the environment. As with all technologies, risks need to be considered in comparison to existing production systems, and weighed against benefits. There are some known risks associated with existing production systems, such as the fertile lines of selected lines of Atlantic salmon escaping from ocean net pen-based aquacultural systems.

_{The image “Salmon” by Ján Sokoly is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.}

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In the United States, the amount of fish and shellfish harvested from the wild is seven times greater than the amount produced by domestic aquaculture, but over half of the seafood that the U.S. imports comes from aquaculture. And more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries around the world. In addition, aquaculture plays an important role in producing many popular seafood products including salmon, oysters and clams in the U.S. There are also concerns about the supply of fish available via wild capture, and any sustainable methods to supply the world with seafood will be explored.

To learn more about aquaculture, Best Food Facts checked in with experts LaDon Swann, PhD, Director and Associate Professor of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture for Auburn University, and Kevin Fitzsimmon, PhD, Professor, Extension Specialist and Research Scientist at the University of Arizona.

What are some of the differences between aquaculture or farmed fish and wild fish?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Fish farmers focus on the best quality water they can find whether in raceways, tanks or ponds, or cages in the ocean, bays, lakes or rivers. Wild fish, especially in freshwaters, are often subject to polluted water and can accumulate toxins or heavy metals. Farmed fish get just the ingredients in the formulated diets and are grown and harvested quickly as opposed to wild fish that may have been in the water for many years. From the processing, retail and restaurant side, farmed fish are consistently available at known prices and known quality. Wild fish supply is inconsistent, variable in price and in quality.”

Dr. Swann: “Sustainable wild-caught fish and sustainable aquaculture fisheries are both really good for the U.S. from a health standpoint, as well as a trade standpoint. The U.S. has a trade deficit for seafood, so we need more aquaculture and sustainable wild-caught product, as well.”

Are there any concerns with or disadvantages of aquaculture?

Dr. Swann: “There’s a lot of research to conduct to develop feeds and feeding programs, and control diseases at the hatchery. There are a lot of people that feel like aquaculture is bad for the environment, but if you do it the right way, you can mitigate environmental concerns. It just has to be done in a very sustainable way.”

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Some of the concerns regarding aquaculture include the use of fish meal and fish oil in the diets of some fishes and shrimps. Over-harvest of forage fish to supply these species is expensive and depletes supplies of fish that are also eaten by many people, as well as some whales, dolphins, tuna, salmon, sea birds, seals, sea lions, etc. There are also concerns about too much concentration of fish farming in small areas and inadequate treatment of waste products.”

How do freshwater and ocean-based aquaculture systems differ?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Freshwater aquaculture is most commonly done in raceways and tanks (trout, striped bass, sturgeon, yellow perch, bluegill and tilapia) or ponds (tilapia, catfish, carp). Ocean-based aquaculture more often uses cages (salmon, tuna, barramundi, yellowtail, cobia), or on ropes (mussels, seaweeds) or in trays or baskets (oysters, clams, scallops). Shrimp are mostly grown in ponds.”

What types of confinement are the fish kept in and how are they segregated from wild species of fish?

Dr. Swann: “There’s not really significant offshore marine aquaculture for finfish in the U.S. There’s an incredible amount of marine aquaculture for shellfish, clam and abalones, but only some testing for finfish. Those that have been grown and will be grown in the future will be in some type of system that lets the water circulate through some netting or cages to make sure they get enough oxygen, so they’re segregated that way. You can’t turn loose fish and expect to get them back so they do have to be confined in some way. Some examples of aquaculture systems include ponds, in-shore and off-shore cages, raceways and recirculating systems, and it really depends on the species to determine what system you would use.”

Does confining fish in some aquaculture systems create environmental issues (concentrations of nutrients and effluents beneath cages)? What management options can help control these issues?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Concentrated fish feeding systems used to be a serious environmental issue. But in recent years, the industry has made a huge effort to reduce these wastes through several management options. First is active reuse of the waste as fertilizer on plant crops. Irrigation of field crops with fish effluent or in aquaponics uses all the wastes as nutrients for plants and saves the farmer money that would have otherwise been spent on chemical fertilizers. Second, the nutrition experts and feed mills have reformulated feeds so that the fish are approaching a feed conversion ratio of 1.5 kilograms of feed fed to 1.0 kilograms of fish weight. Thus, the amount of food not assimilated and expelled as feces or urine is greatly minimized. Third, in marine systems, the farms are adopting variations of multi-trophic integrated aquaculture, where they grow filter feeding bi-valves and nutrient-scavenging seaweeds to capture the solids and dissolved nutrients from fish and shrimp.”

Dr. Swann: “Animals eat and excrete waste products, which include nutrients that aren’t converted to proteins. More research needs to be conducted, which could allow us to alleviate some environmental concerns. This is nothing more than farming, much like hog or cattle farmers work to minimize environmental issues. Through research over time, we’ll see environmental issues continue to decrease.”

Are there concerns if farmed fish mix with and interbreed with wild species?

Dr. Swann: “One of the lessons learned about fish escaping from confinement is that we should only grow fish that are native to the region, which helps minimize any dangers if they do escape. I’m not a fan of raising species that are not native to the area, because I’ve seen too many challenges arise. Even when they raise native species, farmers look to minimize or eliminate escapism because every time a fish escapes, that’s money out of the farmer’s pocket. The aquaculture industry continues to look for systems to reduce or eliminate escapism.”

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “There is a theoretical concern that a large release of farmed fish might interbreed with their wild cousins and affect the mix of genetic material such that the wild population might suffer. However, there are no documented cases of this having happened.”

What types of diets are farmed fish fed? Does this vary by species of fish?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Diets vary considerably for different species. In general, top of the line predators need more protein from marine origin, while lower trophic-level fishes can be fed more plant-based proteins and carbohydrates. However, again the nutrition experts and feed mills have been very clever in recent years with formulations that use less and less fish meal, squid meal and marine oils and more soy, wheat, processing by-products, algae and seaweeds.”

Dr. Swann: “University research helped farmers refine catfish diets from primarily fishmeal to incorporate more grain-based diets, reducing the need for fishmeal and making catfish production more sustainable. Farmers are always looking for the most cost-effective, nutritious  food for their fish. Once that research is there, the market will drive that switch from fishmeal-based diets to grain-based diets, primarily corn and soybean meal. Fish do a very good job converting protein to protein, so they have an inherent advantage over warm-blooded animals in terms of their feed efficiency.”

What are some of the most popular types of farmed fish? Are there certain species of fish better suited to aquaculture than others?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “Catfishes, tilapia, trout, sturgeon, striped bass, barramundi, cobia, mussels, oysters, abalone, clams and soft shell crabs are almost exclusively from farms. Shrimp, salmon, scallops and some spiny lobsters are mostly from farms now. The proportion of tuna, snappers, groupers and mahi mahi are increasingly from farms. Slow-growing fishes like rockfishes, orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, swordfish and sharks are not very good candidates for farming.”

Dr. Swann: “Salmon is the number one finfish grown in a marine environment and farmers in Washington, Oregon and Maine do a great job controlling disease, escapism and nutrients with offshore salmon. Some species farmers have tried to grow include cobia or lemonfish, rarely seen on the market but instead in white tablecoth restaurants. Red drum is a candidate species because there has been some success growing this species on farms in South Texas. There are other candidate species, but a lot of research needs to answer questions on spawning, diets and production systems. People who are interested in aquaculture should really get some good reliable information before they just jump in — they can contact an extension specialist at their local land grant university for this information.”

Has the popularity of aquaculture increased? What does the future look like for aquaculture?

Dr. Fitzsimmons: “More than 50 percent of all seafood around the world is now farm-raised. Three years ago, for the first time in history, we raised and sold more farmed fish than beef on the planet. We are rapidly domesticating many of the most widely-consumed freshwater and marine plants and animals. Basically, we are doing in the last 40 years what we did with terrestrial agriculture in the last 4,000 years. By applying modern nutrition, genetics, engineering, reproductive biology, water treatment, and computer systems, we are able to be more productive with less environmental effects all the time.

Hunting and gathering from the ocean is a rapidly-dying industry that is dangerous, inefficent, causes pollution and by-catch and has never been as romantic as the popular press has implied. The stories of crab, sword, tuna and shrimp fishermen will soon be in the same lore as those who trapped beavers and shot buffalo and carrier pigeons. High insurance rates, high docking fees, and protection of marine areas of sport fishing will be the fianl nails in the coffin of commercial fishing. Domesticated aquatic plants and animals already supply more than half of all seafood with the proportion rising every day.”

Dr. Swann: “There’s been a steady increase in aquaculture production in the U.S. for decades, but there hasn’t been a big jump recently. It’s taken several years just to develop a process to grow fish in the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of the production technologies for these newer species are still in development, so that’s been an impediment as well. But overall, I think as long as we eat seafood, the demand for aquaculture will be there. Aquaculture complements wild fisheries very well. As wild fishery supplies continue to decrease, we are going to have to find alternative ways to provide seafood to consumers and I think aquaculture is one of those ways. So I think over time more seafood that is consumed will be farm-raised.”

_{The image “Fish Farming” by Luna sin estrellas is licensed under CC BY 2.0.}

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