The FDA issued an alert this morning to stop imports of genetically engineered salmon.
The agency is following a mandate Sen. Lisa Murkowski pushed through Congress in a spending bill at the end of last year. But the import limitation is likely to be just temporary.
The FDA, citing the bill language, says it can’t allow the fish to be sold as food until it writes consumer labeling guidelines.
There’s no word yet on when the FDA expects to have those guidelines completed.
Meanwhile, the only company approved to produce genetically altered salmon hasn’t yet begun exporting them from its plant in Panama.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her atlruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Lizhere.
