The future of genetically modified bacon, steak and fish is at the center of a Washington food fight.

The White House is refereeing whether the Food and Drug Administration or the Agriculture Department should regulate disease-resistant pigs, hornless cattle and faster-growing salmon—gene edits that could also result in unintended consequences if not done carefully.

Food companies have sought gene-edited cattle and fish because they promise to grow bigger, faster and more resistant to climate change and viruses than current animals. Pork producers and other industry players have been pushing for USDA oversight, saying the agency would be faster and less expensive to deal with than the FDA.

But consumer and environmental groups, worried about safety, counter that the USDA is too close to industry and say the FDA brings the scientific expertise demanded by such a technical area.

The FDA and USDA have been at odds before. The two agencies in 2019 split duties regulating cell-cultured meat. Domestic catfish farmers got their oversight moved to USDA in 2016, though that hasn’t worked out as the industry intended, as imports have remained strong while domestic production has dropped.

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