If the Food and Drug Administration has its way, unlabeled cloned meat and dairy products could soon find their way onto our supermarket shelves, ending a long moratorium on the commercial sale of cloned meat and dairy, and thus giving the United States the dubious honor of being the first and only country to sell it. Relying almost exclusively on data provided by Via-Gen and Cyagra, the two big cloning companies which stand to gain fininacially from its policy, the FDA is now poised to approve such a measure, stating that it is safe. I'm not convinced.
A recent survey shows that almost 60% of Americans do not want to eat meat from cloned animals, even with assurance from the government. Yet the FDA has no intention of labeling these products. Only certified organic meat and dairy products would not be allowed to use cloned animals, and even this could become problematic since cloned animals and offspring will be introduced into the classic breeding system with no tracking system, thus possibly entering the organic food market as well. (Not to mention the inherent unfairness due to huge price and availability differences between standard meat and organic products.)
Now, for those who are unconcerned about cloned meat, this information from ShopNatural Coop deserves your attention:
The health risks and deformities inherent in the cloning process can be horrific. The FDA documents health risks for the surrogate animals as well as the offspring. These abnormalities can be physical deformities that can appear in more than 50% of cloned cattle. Surrogate animals are more likely to die during pregnancy and the failure rate of cloned offspring can be reportedly as high as 90%. The FDA has gone so far as to address the concerns about the amount of damaged and deformed animals that will result in cloning. The FDA report states: "Increased risks of adverse health outcomes have been observed in surrogate dames and very young clones. Working with professional societies dedicated to animal health and the care of food-producing animals..., FDA will encourage the development of standards of care for animals involved in the cloning process (ie. clones and their surrogated dames)."
If this bothers you, as it does me, you may want to contact the FDA with your comments by April 2, 2007.