(Reuters) — March 13, 2014 — The Food and Drug Administration is still considering whether a proposed genetically engineered fish is safe for consumers, the agency's top official said on Thursday.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said it was examining as many as 35,000 comments about the application on the salmon by Boston-based AquaBounty Technologies Inc, which applied for approval in the mid-1990s.
"We will be moving forward in a deliberate, science-driven way, reflecting all of the important inputs … as we consider this product application," Hamburg told the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during a hearing about the agency's current initiatives.
AquaBounty officials could not be reached for comment. The company has said in the past that it expected a decision from the FDA by the end of 2013.
Hamburg did not say when the FDA would make its final decision.
If the altered fish, known as AdquAdvantage salmon, is approved, it would be the first genetically altered animal product to reach the plates of consumers in the United States.
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