F.D.A. Says Food From Cloned Animals Is Safe

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F.D.A. Says Food From Cloned Animals Is Safe

 

By ANDREW MARTIN

Published: January 15, 2008

 

After years of debate, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday declared

that food from cloned animals and their progeny was safe, removing the last

government hurdle before meat and milk derived from copies of prize dairy cows

and superior hogs can be sold at grocery stores.

 

The decision comes more than four years after the agency tentatively declared

that food from cloned animals was safe, only to face a backlash of criticism

from consumer groups and some scientists who said the science supporting the

decision was shaky.

On Tuesday, the F.D.A. declared that further studies had confirmed its earlier

decision.

" Following extensive review, the risk assessment did not identify any unique

risks for human food from cattle, swine or goat clones, and concluded that there

is sufficient information to determine that food from cattle, swine and goat

clones is as safe to eat as that from their more conventionally-bred

counterparts, " the agency said in a statement.

 

The F.D.A. ruling was a major victory for cloning companies, which hope to use

the cloned animals primarily for breeding purposes, selling copies of prize

dairy cows, steers and hogs.

Consumer groups and some members of Congress have fought the decision, arguing

that there was still not enough science to support such a decision.

 

It remains to be seen how widely the technology will be adopted. Interest from

the food industry has been tepid, with some companies declaring that they will

not sell milk or meat from cloned animals or their offspring.

 

Even if the technology is widely adopted, it is unlikely that clones

themselves will wind up on grocery shelves, since they cost thousands of dollars

apiece to produce. A limited amount of milk from cloned cows might be sold, but

mostly it would be meat and milk from second- and third-generation offspring of

clones that would enter the food supply.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/business/15cnd-clone.html?_r=1 & hp & oref=slogin

 

 

 

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