The consumer group Center for Food Safety (CFS) obtained documents using the Freedom of Information Act that it says show that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is shutting out the opinions of marine and fisheries experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in its rush to approve a controversial, genetically-modified salmon. The AquAdvantage salmon, produced by a company called AquaBounty Technologies, is a genetically-engineered salmon that grows to market size in 16-18 months, instead of the usual 30 months required for Atlantic salmon. The food safety group says FDA knowingly withheld a 2003 federal Biological Opinion (pdf) issued by the FWS and NOAA that says raising transgenic salmon in open-water pens is prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. AquaBounty is raising its salmon in land-based pens, but claims that the transgenic fish pose no threat to marine environments. The Biological Opinion, issued in 2003, essentially says the opposite, expressing concern that transgenic salmon pose a threat to wild Atlantic salmon, which are currently listed on the Endangered Species list.

Unscrupulous marketers are taking advantage of consumers' growing preference for locally-produced foods. The market manager of a California non-profit that operates 18 farmers markets in southern California caught a vendor repackaging Mexican produce to sell at a farmers market. Shannon Reid, who works for a company called Raw Inspiration, caught Kirby Wylie, an employee of a farm called Rancho Las Gordonises, repackaging cherry tomatoes for sale at a local farmers market in Glendale, California, and documented it with photographs. After Reid confronted Wylie, he removed the offending items. But it isn't the first time either Wylie or Rancho Las Gordonises has been caught deceiving consumers. In 2007, Tulare County, California sanctioned Wylie for falsifying documents and suspended him from participating at farmers markets in the state for 17 months. He was also caught re-selling tomatoes at a market in Torrance, California. San Bernardino County also suspended Rancho Las Gordonises for 18 months and fined the business $2,000 for reselling pears and cherries.