NEWS: Food from Cloned Animals Could Hit Supermarket Shelves - AP10/18/06

[Guest guest]

/Wednesday, October 18, 2006 by the Associated Press <http://www.ap.org/> /

 

*Food from Cloned Animals Could Hit Supermarket Shelves

**Consumer Groups Ourtaged

 

*

 

*by Linda Quaid *

 

 

 

*The government said Tuesday it is moving closer to approving meat and

milk from cloned animals*, drawing protests from consumer groups

 

The Bush administration is currently reviewing Food and Drug

Administration plans to regulate cloned animals and food derived from

them, the agency said in a statement. A draft of the plans should be

released by the end of the year, FDA said.

 

*The agency has "studies that show that the meat and milk from cattle

clones and their offspring are as safe as that from conventionally bred

animals," the FDA statement said.*

 

The biotech industry says cloning lets breeders do what they've always

done: select the best animals from the herd for reproduction.

 

"Cloning allows the possibility of identifying the healthiest and the

superior sires or boars that are going to be used for breeding

purposes," said Barb Glenn of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

 

*A fight is brewing over whether food from cloned animals must carry

special labels*.

 

*"We feel like the average consumer is going to accept this technology

as we move forward,"* Glenn said.* "There will not be a label that will

indicate this is anything other than healthy meat and milk."*

 

Dairy producers are worried about what might happen if "clone-free" [?]

products start showing up in supermarkets.

 

"We have concerns where people are going to try to draw distinctions and

differences where none exist," said Chris Galen, spokesman for the

National Milk Producers Federation.

 

The federation opposes putting cloned milk on the market, at least until

it's proven safe. Galen said *producers worry it could interfere with

widely held beliefs among consumers about the wholesomeness of milk.*

 

The Washington-based Center for Food Safety

<http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/> said food labels should disclose

that it came from cloned animals. *Concerns over hormones and

antibiotics have helped drive ever-growing demand for organic food*,

said Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety.

 

*"Because consumers are not getting the specific product information, it

will impugn the whole conventional market,"* Mendelson said.

 

The Consumer Federation of America said *_years of independent

polling_*, including a survey by the Gallup organization and the Pew

Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, *_indicate that consumers oppose

animal cloning and wouldn't buy cloned meat and milk even if the

government declared them safe._ [Hence, don't label it - mw]*

 

In contrast to the dairy industry, beef producers are watching with

interest but haven't taken a position. *The major beef group, the

National Cattlemen's Beef Association, sees potential in cloning.*

 

*"Our guys are all about new technology*, starting back with artificial

insemination to embryo transfer," *said *Leah Wilkinson, *the beef

association's food policy director. * *"This is just another one of

those assisted reproductive techniques.* This one's got some potential

to help us in the consistency area."

 

Consumer acceptance of that tool is "definitely something we will be

watching," Wilkinson said.

 

She said it's important to make a distinction between food that comes

from cloned animals and food that comes from their offspring.

 

*"The key thing is, it would be the offspring of clones that would be

going into the food supply," she said. "Our ranchers are not going to

spend $20,000 to clone an animal and then put it into the food supply."

*

 

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*photo caption: *Victorious ® [hereford calf] the first successful

clone of a cloned animal from Latin America, is shown for first time

with its genetic source Victoria (L) at a government agrarian farm

outside Brasilia, February 19, 2004. Citing public health, ethical and

animal cruelty concerns, consumer and religious groups on Thursday urged

federal regulators to issue a moratorium on the introduction of food

made from cloned animals. REUTERS/Jamil Bittar JB/SV