The mutant fish was engineered by scientists at a company calledAquaBounty, which has spentmore than 15 years and $50 million researching and perfecting thefrankenfish. The mutants can grow to market size in 16-18 months,rather than the usual 30 months required for the Atlantic salmon.The Food and Drug Administration began its approval process in2010, and in December decidedthat the fish is safe enough to be consumed.The FDA is still conducting its final review of the geneticallyengineered salmon and retailers expect it to be on store shelvessoon. But a coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishinggroups representing more than 2,000 US stores have taken a standagainst GE fish and have pledged not to sell it, due to safetyconcerns and unanswered questions about consuming geneticallyengineered products.Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, and Marsh are some of thestores that will refuse to put the frankenfish on its shelves.“We won’t sell genetically engineered fish because we don’tbelieve it is sustainable or healthy,” Trudy Bialic from PCCNatural Markets in Washington State told Consumer’s Union. “Itis troubling that the FDA is recommending approval of AquaBounty’ssalmon as a ‘new animal drug,’ subjecting these engineeredcreatures to less rigorous safety standards than food additives.That’s not a credible safety assessment.”Stores like Walmart, Costco and Safeway, however, have notexpressed any opposition to selling the mutant salmon, which islikely to be cheaper due to its expedited growth.AquaBounty has been trying to obtain FDA approval for thefrankenfish for the past 17 years, but their engineering has comewith a wave of opposition from people concerned about the possiblelong-term effects of consuming a genetically engineered fish. Thefish contains DNA from the eelpout, a ray-finned fish thatresembles an eel with its elongated body. Scientists have long beenstudying the eelpout to see if it can be used to accelerate growthrates of other fish or even to preserve human tissue and organs.But if the FDA allows the mutant salmon on store shelves, it willbe the first ever genetically engineered animal deemed safe forconsumption.Scientists are concerned that the FDA has been lax about itsdecision and might be making a mistake by allowing grocery storesto sell such a creature.”There are still unanswered safety and nutritional questionsand the quality of the data that was submitted to the FDA was theworst stuff I’ve ever seen submitted for a GMO,” ConsumersUnion senior scientist Michael Hansen told Alternet in early 2013.“There’s stuff there that couldn’t make it through a high schoolscience class.”It is likely that the FDA will not label the geneticallyengineered fish as having been scientifically manipulated. PattyLovera, assistant director of Food & Water Watch, is afraidthat consumers won’t recognize the mutant fish on store shelves andpurchase the produce without knowing where it came from – even ifthey would otherwise have a problem with consuming such aquestionable species.“Most consumers don’t want to eat genetically engineeredsalmon, but without mandatory labeling it will be hard for them toavoid,” she told Consumers Union. “That’s why the stores whohave committed to not to sell genetically engineered seafood aremaking a smart move and giving their customers what they want — away to avoid this controversial, unnecessary biotech fish.”But despite the wave of opposition by non-GMO campaigners,“not a single new scientific or legal argument has beenpresented to the FDA,” AquaBounty CEO Dr. Ronald Stotish toldFoodNavigator. He expects the engineered fish to be on the marketby late 2013. … Read More
US fund increases investment to Russia
By the end of January 2012 $302 million or 9.9% of the fund’s$300bln assets under management was in the Russian market. Nearlythe same amount $307 million of the fund’s assets were in Mexico.Brazil with $303 million is among the top three. Last January the figures have climbed, taking Russia to firstplace with a total of 16% or $1.1 billion of the fund invested inRussia. Brazil comes next with $1 billion or 15.8% and Mexicoencloses the top three with $786 million or 11.5%. Over the past year TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund sold itsstake in Russian diamond company Alrosa, one of the largest ironore and HBI producers and suppliers Metalloinvest and VimpelComtelecommunications company, and invested in, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft,Gazprombank, Home Credit bank, Nomos-Bank, Russky Standart Bank andSibur gas processing and petrochemicals company. TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund says it invests over 80% ofits net assets in debt securities, issued or guaranteed bycompanies, financial institutions and government agencies inemerging markets. “Investors are confident in the Russian rouble against thegrowing oil prices,” Mikhail Belyavsky, a bond trader at UBSRussia says commenting on the foreign funds’ interest in Russia,Vedomosti daily reports. “The yield of securities, denominatedin roubles, are now higher than in us dollars or euro,” headded. “The rouble is stable now and it pays to keep money inRussia. Many do just that,” Andrey Gritsenko, general directorof Kapital Asset Management agrees as quoted byVedomosti. The US fund is not the first to actively invest in Russianbonds. The Government Pension Fund of Norway has $2.97 billion inRussian government debt securities. The figure has grown 16 foldsince the end of 2011, the Fund’s annual report stated. … Read More
Chinese shale gas boom under threat
The latest auction attracted 100 firms including a real estatedeveloper, a grain trader and a tobacco dealer – all lured by gassubsidies and easy access to funds, but none of the companies haveever dealt with shale gas before.”They will have received very little data about the blocks,will have very little idea about what it is going to cost them todo exploration wells and no idea about development costs,”Reuters quotes Tony Regan of Tri-Zen Consultancy, which advises gascompanies doing business in China.”They are driven by the attraction of getting in early intowhat could be a huge market.”It’s unclear though how these companies will help the countrymake a breakthrough in this field – a few years ago Beijing voicedan ambitious target of producing 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas by2015.China’s potential is impressive. The country’s shale reservescould be anything betwween 25 and 36 trillion cubic meters, whilethe US, the world’s leader in the field, has around 24.4tcm.However, it’s difficult to make use of it right now. TheAmerican technology is hardly applicable in China due to geologicalpeculiarities and the fact that the country’s shale deposits aremostly situated deeper underground.A report by law firm Norton Rose claims the cost to drill asingle shale gas well in China ranges from $5mn to $12 mn -compared to the average cost per well of $2.7-$3.7 mn in the US. Inother words, even if China gets all the necessary technology theproject would hardly be profitable due to the high explorationcost.Last week, Royal Dutch Shell gave China a glimmer of hopethough. The oil and gas major said it may help the country’s shalegas industry reach new heights. But until that time it looks likethe country has to put its shale gas revolution on hold. … Read More
Is motherhood causing my depression?
A few weeks ago, I had a bad flareup. I’d been laid off from my part-time teaching job, was going through a difficult period in my writing life, and at the same time, my psychiatrist persuaded me to try a new medicine. Meanwhile, my daughter got strep throat, then my son got the flu, then our baby sitter got the flu, then I got strep throat — all just a week in the life of a mother with kids in preschool. Nothing about any of these stressors was catastrophic or even unusual.Nothing unusual except that in the middle of it, I found it physically painful to get out of bed. All day, going about my stay-at-home mom business, I cried. I cried while asking my kids if they wanted their morning bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter. I cried while driving them to school. I cried at the coffee shop where I go to write and in the dried foods aisle of Trader Joe’s. There was no sobbing, no blubbering or nose blowing, just a stream of tears stopping and starting all day long without any real cause.My husband worried. My children were fussy and confused. And I couldn’t blame them. I knew exactly what they were going through, because long before I knew what depression was, before I’d ever heard of mood disorders or anxiety, I knew what it felt like to live with someone who was often, inconsolably, unhappy.Continue Reading… … Read More
Chinese demand fuels illegal logging: report
The preservation of the world’s forests “is in China’s hands”, a top environmental campaign group said Thursday, accusing the biggest wood importer and consumer of fuelling the illegal timber trade. “China’s role as the world’s biggest timber trader means…
Sunland Peanut Butter Plant Shuttered By FDA, In First-Ever Use Of New Powers, After Huge Recall
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has halted operations of the country’s largest organic peanut butter processor, cracking down on salmonella poisoning for the first time with a new enforcement authority the agency gained in a 2011 food safety law.FDA officials found salmonella all over Sunland Inc.’s New Mexico processing plant after 41 people in 20 states, most of them children, were sickened by peanut butter manufactured at the Sunland plant and sold at Trader Joe’s. The suspension will prevent the company from distributing any food.Read More…
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