The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved the release of genetically engineered salmon into the market place. AquaBounty Technologies has been pushing for this approval for almost 20 years, and only in the last 5 has it been sure of its product’s safety. Making for a more efficient process, the Atlantic Salmon has been genetically modified to grow double its normal size in half the amount of time. The real question is: is this humane?

Arguably, fish are not harmed in the process and the fishing industry will reap great benefits from these bigger and “better” fish. But will demand really increase? If people knew that their fish was genetically modified, they would be less likely to purchase it. Here’s the catch – this company does not actually have to advertise the truth about their product. Is this ethical? The answer is left quite unclear. The fruit and vegetable industries have no problem producing modified foods and people have no problem purchasing them. When a person looks at a juicy, ripe strawberry they don’t take into consideration that its been genetically modified and may contain cancer-causing cells. Instead, they are lead to believe that it’s been a good season and the strawberries are larger than usual. This logic will soon become weaved into everyone’s brains as technology improvements have given people the ability to modify any food that exists. Ethical or not – the industries using this process will expand until everything we eat has been skewed to be visually attractive.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/business/genetically-engineered-salmon-approved-for-consumption.html?ref=business