Health Canada has concluded its review of AquaBounty Technologies, Inc.’s AquAdvantage® Salmon (AAS) and has approved it for commercial sale in Canada.
The Animal Feed Division of the Animal Health Directorate of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has also determined that feed ingredients derived from AAS do not present livestock feed safety or nutrition concerns when compared with feeds derived from other permitted salmon to be used as livestock feed in Canada.
"We are pleased to receive the approvals of the various authorities of Canada which means we can produce, sell and eat our AquAdvantage Salmon in Canada,” said Ronald L. Stotish, Ph.D., chief executive officer of AquaBounty.
“We thank the scientists in the Ministries of Health, Food Inspection and Fisheries of the Canadian Government for carrying out their assessments diligently and confirming the safety of our salmon for both the consumer and the environment.”
He said that two independent reviews by two of the most sophisticated and demanding regulators in the world have now been carried out, and have both reached the same positive conclusion. AquAdvantage Salmon gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2015.
Health Canada (HC), the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health, conducted a comprehensive assessment of AAS according to the Codex Alimentarius Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Animals.
The Health Canada review concluded that AAS does not raise concerns related to food safety. The Department also noted its opinion that fillets derived from AAS are as safe and nutritious as fillets from currently available farmed Atlantic salmon.
