Nutrition

Three consumer groups petitioned the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to subject a new genetically engineered salmon to a more rigorous review process than is now in place before the fish can be approved as safe to eat.

The fish at issue, AquaBounty Technologies' AquAdvantage salmon, is currently classified as a new animal drug for the purposes of FDA review.

The FDA considers any genetically altered animal a new animal drug for approval purposes. The petition calls for the salmon to be classified as a food additive instead, which would require a more rigorous FDA review.

Read the complete story by Reuters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy could cut the risk of babies developing eczema and egg allergies by over a third, say researchers.

 

Read the full article here.

(Reuters Health) – In a new study of some 3,000 older adults, those with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood were 30 percent less likely to develop an irregular heartbeat over the next 14 years than peers with the lowest blood levels of omega-3s.

"A 30 percent lower risk of the most common chronic arrhythmia in the United States population is a pretty big effect," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the new report and a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

According to some estimates, up to nine percent of Americans will develop atrial fibrillation, a heart-rhythm abnormality that can lead to stroke and heart failure, by the time they reach their 80s.

There are few treatments for the condition and they largely center on preventing strokes with blood-thinning drugs.

Read the complete story from Reuters

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women who eat about three servings of fish per week have a somewhat lower chance of having polyps found during a routine colonoscopy than women who eat just one serving every two weeks, according to a new study.

The research doesn't prove that seafood protects against polyps, but it "does increase our confidence that something real is going on," said Dr. Edward Giovannucci, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who was not involved in this study.

A polyp, also called an adenoma, is a mushroom-shaped tag of tissue that grows in the colon and can develop into colorectal cancer.

The idea researchers have been pursuing is that the omega-3 fats in fish might have an anti-inflammatory effect, similar to aspirin, that could prevent the development of polyps.

Read the complete story in The Chicago Tribune

 

 

 

 

 

A recent Senate hearing placed a spotlight on the regulatory tangle surrounding the approval process for genetically-engineered salmon. Potentially the country’s first GE animal for human consumption, the salmon have raised a host of worries among critics including the impact on the environment should they escape fish farms.

However, what came to the fore during the mid-December hearing was the complicated morass of government approval, oversight, and trade when dealing with the GE fish. Other GE animals are surely being developed and the current approval process outlined during the hearing seems ill-equipped to deal with the new technology.

Years ago, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty, submitted an application for its GE salmon to the FDA. In late 2010, preliminary analysis by the FDA – charged with regulating GE animals as “new animal drugs” — said the fish were safe for consumption were unlikely to harm the environment. That was hardly the last word as the approval process has since moved through a handful of other federal agencies.

Questions to the expert panel from the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard mostly came from the chairman, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe. Both have large salmon industries in their states and Begich has introduced S.1717, which would ban interstate commerce of genetically engineered salmon.

Read the complete story from The Southwest Farm Press

 

 

 

 

 

There’s plenty of fish in the waters of New Jersey, along with lots of other things: mercury, polychlorobiphenyls and dioxin, among them.

And according to a former governor, there could be some danger in eating fish from Garden State waters.

"Many types of fish and shellfish from waters across the state are labeled unsafe to eat," Jim Florio wrote in a Dec. 14 guest column in The Star-Ledger about how new reductions in mercury pollution will protect New Jerseyans from contaminated seafood.

It turns out Florio wasn’t exactly telling a fish tale, PolitiFact New Jersey found.

Read the complete story from PolitiFact New Jersey and The Star-Ledger

 

 

 

 

 

Americans are finding some surprises lurking in U.S. government information about where the food they eat comes from.

One food revelation came when low levels of a fungicide that isn’t approved in the U.S. were discovered in some orange juice sold here. It was then revealed that Brazil, where the fungicide-laced juice originated, produces a good portion of the orange pulpy stuff Americans drink.

While the former may have sent prices for orange juice for delivery in March down 5.3 percent last week, the latter came as a bombshell to some “Buy American” supporters.

Overall, America’s insatiable desire to chomp on overseas food has been growing. About 16.8 percent of the food that Americans eat is imported from other countries, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from 11.3 percent two decades ago.

Read the complete story from The Asbury Park Press.

 

 

 

 

 

"Where does your seafood come from?" It's a question more restaurant customers are asking. More chefs are able to answer, in part because of the efforts of people like Rhode Island fisherman Steve Arnold.

Arnold and partner Chris Brown formed Wild Rhody, which sells "responsibly harvested" seafood directly to chefs, cutting out the middleman and providing the freshest product. They are part of Trace and Trust, a program that follows fish from the water to the table. Fishermen document their catch, and customers can use ID numbers to trace it back to the source.

The Wild Rhody team supplies seafood to many local restaurants. Chefs who work with these guys have nothing but great things to say.

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

State officials are considering using DNA testing to combat fish mislabeling and are launching a pilot program in partnership with Legal Sea Foods that would trace seafood using barcodes, according to testimony prepared today for a hearing on fish mislabeling held by the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, the state Department of Public Health, and the Department of Fish and Games’ Division of Marine Fisheries, and are “in the process of facilitating discussions around the issue of fish genetics testing with faculty and staff at UMass Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology (SMSAT),” Charles Carroll, director of the state’s Division of Standards at the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, wrote in prepared testimony.

"We are confident that the Administration’s coordinated response, focusing on both education and enforcement, including examining the possibility of integrating fish genetics testing, will ensure that that the fish retail marketplace in Massachusetts adequately protects both businesses and consumers alike.”

These efforts follow a Globe report in October that uncovered widespread seafood misrepresentation at area restaurants and lax government oversight. The five-month investigation revealed that Massachusetts consumers routinely and unwittingly overpay for less valued fish or purchase seafood that is different from what is advertised.

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe

 

 

 

 

 

In the wake of high profile reports of seafood mislabeling, the FDA recently announced it will expand its use of DNA testing in inspections of seafood manufacturers and restaurants. Proponents say this testing, known as DNA barcoding, will enhance detection of fish caught illegally or illegally substituted for other species, but some warn that such testing could be ineffective if enforcement agents don’t receive proper training.

DNA barcoding involves rapid testing of a small sample to see if its genetic makeup matches with genetic markers of a species.

A group of international researchers have launched the Barcode for Life initiative to expand DNA barcoding for field research and food inspection. The FDA is already using this method for some inspections and is working with researchers to create testing protocols and DNA reference libraries to expand its use. The agency has outfitted nine new field laboratories for DNA barcoding according to FDA spokesman Douglas Karas.

Conservationists hope DNA barcoding will help curb rampant mislabeling of seafood. Approximately 1/3 of seafood sold in the U.S. is mislabeled, estimates Margot Stiles, a marine scientist with Oceana, a marine-conservation organization. Often, an off-limits species or fish caught outside of catch-limit rules enter the U.S. market through deception, said Stiles.

Read the complete story from The Working Waterfront