The Food and Drug Administration has affirmed their approval of the sale of meat and milk from cloned animals for human consumption, saying that there is no evidence to prove that it is harmful. The FDA did the same thing four years ago, and has been facing scrutiny since then from groups who feel that the research is insufficient or that it is harmful to the animals.
The FDA has also decided not to require labels on the cloned food. It is said that it is unlikely that we will see cloned beef on the shelved any time soon because it is such an expensive process, but to me that doesn’t mean we won’t see meat from the offspring of those animals. It doesn’t take long for second and third generation cows to be born from cloned animals, of which there are thousands in existence.
There has been a moratorium on the sale of cloned products since the FDA approved the process four years ago, which they have asked farmers to continue to respect while consumers get used to the idea.
They say that they’re going to refrain from labeling the food because “food derived from these sources is no different from food derived from conventionally bred animals.” To me, it’s further evidence that the FDA is motivated by factors other than the heath and safety of individuals, if they’d sacrifice their right to choose to benefit the cloned meat market. How can you admit that consumers are afraid of the product, and then deny their right to know when they’re consuming it?
According to a Health Canada spokesperson there are currently no foods from cloned animals approved for sale in Canada, so I’m safe for now. If you get to chance to try a clonedog in a bun, let me know how it tastes!
– Jonathan Kleiman, the man behind LegalIntellects.com and Canadian professional network Probook.ca
LawIsCool: For more questionable practices around food, hear Dr. Rima Laibow speak on Codex and Nutricide in the video below.
As a biologist, I can say that the FDA’s reasoning seems sound, but nonetheless, I think people should know what they’re buying and eating, and I think it’s fairly evident that people will want to know if they are consuming meat from a cloned animal or offspring of a cloned animal. Perhaps the problem is that it’s not necessarily a *health* issue but a *consumer* issue, so it’s not necessarily the FDA’s place to mandate such labels. The question then is whether there another federal agency that has the power to do so.
You might have said that about some of the other things that the FDA has approved that have turned out to be disastrous (maybe not). I’m not implying that this is a medical threat, but I’m saying that there’s a health issue in allowing people to be knowledgeable about what they consume in general.
I see what you’re saying, and I think it’s important to keep in mind that we both agree labels should be mandated, but if you’re concern is that you don’t trust the FDA (or the scientific process), that’s not a health issue, it’s a credibility issue, it’s a consumer issue. It’s not a health issue if there’s no verifiable reason that health is at risk. Wanting to know what you eat for peace of mind or for greater choice is a consumer issue.