Alaskans, perhaps more keenly than anyone, know where foods come from, and how those foods arrive on dinner tables all over the Last Frontier.
As we should. We subsist off our environment, off the great food web on our lands and in our waters.
We are proud of it, too.
So when the Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of genetically modified salmon, the first such altered animal cleared for human consumption in the United States, we were horrified. We should not have been surprised, however; the FDA has long resisted requiring labeling of genetically modified organisms. Currently, there is no law which requires the so-called “Frankenfish” to be labeled as engineered.
People, not just those who live in Alaska, have the right — and more and more a medical need — to know what’s in our food and how it was produced. This is especially true if our prime product — wild Alaska salmon — stands to be undercut by an unlabeled laboratory knockoff.
We are not alone. Our delegation in Washington, D.C., which includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, have vocally opposed the FDA’s approval of the product, and all say at a minimum the engineered fish should be labeled.
According to a December news report from The Associated Press, “… Murkowski has gotten language into a major spending and tax package that would not allow the sale of genetically modified salmon until federal labeling guidelines are published.”
That’s great, but there’s a downside. While the language would block the sale of “Frankenfish” during the current spending year, the bill has a one-year life, meaning language would have to crafted again next year.
This is a Band-Aid, for which we are grateful, but it must be permanent. Genetically engineered foods should be labeled. Period. The public should be allowed to make educated decisions about their food choices and sources.
Take organic food labeling, for instance. More and more, it makes a difference to consumers to know their food — packaged or unpackaged — has been produced without the use of harmful pesticides, chemicals or antibiotics. Pesticides, we might note, were labeled as “safe” for human consumption for decades by the Federal Food and Drug Administration. That was, until, they found out some of those pesticides cause cancer. Now, research has uncovered hidden problems with other chemicals and antibiotics — some act like pseudo estrogens in the body, causing precocious puberty in girls delayed puberty in boys.
For some consumers, whether or not a food is organic is a moot point. For some, the choice is a necessary one; perhaps a medical condition makes choosing organic foods vital.
With the steep rise of health issues associated with food sensitivity, people are shying away from foods that don’t have the information they seek; they are looking at the ingredients list, whether or not it’s organic, or whether it meets the definition of Fair Trade, to name only a few.
We see no good reason to continue to make decisions harder for those individuals, for the parents trying to make good food choices for their families, for the young adults learning to navigate our consumer world, or for anyone looking to pursue more clarity when it comes to food sources.
Genetically engineered salmon should be labeled. To some it will matter, to others it will not. But those who do care, for one reason or another, have a right to know.
We want honesty and integrity in our food labeling — where it comes from and what’s in it.
• Empire Readers’ Council editorials are written by members Joe Geldhof, Abby Lowell, Tom Rutecki and Alex Wertheimer. The council is currently seeking members; interested parties should contact Publisher Rustan Burton at rustan.burton@juneauempire.com.
