Cloning Technology Awaits Green Signal from FDA

Meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring have been declared to be safe for consumption by the federal scientists, Larisa Rudenko and John C. Matheson. They concluded saying that there was no basis to differentiate the food products from the cloned animals from normal animals. The assessment from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected next week.

They wrote "There is no science-based reason to apply additional safeguards."

The cloning technology used in cattle, goats, and pigs is expected to get a green signal from FDA after the assessment.

"All of the studies indicate that the composition of meat and milk from clones is within the compositional ranges of meat and milk consumed in the U.S.," the FDA scientists concluded in a report published in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Theriogenology.

There was a sharp reaction regarding the study from the food-safety advocates. According to Andrew Kimbrell, an Executive Director of the nonprofit Center for Food Safety in Washington, the assessment schedule the following week is a rush to judgment. He also said “FDA has been trying to foist this bad science on us for several years.”

According to FDA, cloning is similar to artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization which are common.

In cloning the nucleus is removed from the donor egg, and is replaced with the DNA of a high-quality animal, after which a tiny electric shock is given to the egg to clone into a genetic copy of the original animal. Cloning helps to produce high quality cattle.

The ranchers and dairy producers, who clone animals for meat and milk, are eagerly expecting the FDA’s formal approval of the products.

The studies done by Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology show that high percentage of people are uncomfortable about the idea of cloning, and also feel that the food products of cloned animals are unsafe.

Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America feels that the choice should be given to the consumer whether to accept the food products from cloned animals or not, and therefore, labels should be introduced.

"I should have freedom not to spend my money and not to eat products that offend me," she said. "Some people only drink free trade coffee. Others only choose organic food. Others choose halal or kosher food. This product, which causes great discomfort to a great number of people, goes on the market with no labeling that enables me to make a choice."

A letter was sent recently to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department includes the FDA by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and six other senators suggesting more thorough reviews of the available scientific data to be done before assessing the studies sent by federal scientists.