Bring in the Clones

[Guest guest]

From The American Farm Bureau Bring in the Clones By Cyndie Sirekis http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=newsroom.focusfocus & year=2008 & file=fo0121.html The Food and Drug Administration recently published its final risk assessment of meat and milk products from cloned cattle, swine and goats. A clone is an identical copy of a donor animal, similar to an identical twin but born at a different time. After many years of extensive study, FDA researchers are confident products from cloned animals of these species are just as safe to eat as products from conventional animals. Research also indicates cloned animals are healthy and lab animals raised on clone-derived food have few health problems. The recent

peer-reviewed assessment from the agency backs up a preliminary report from FDA released a year ago which indicated there were no science-based reasons to keep food from cloned animals off the market or label them in a special way. FDA’s science-based conclusions are in line with a 2002 report from the National Academy of Sciences on animal cloning. Before issuing its final conclusions on the subject, FDA reviewed additional research data and considered comments submitted by members of the public. “Our additional review strengthens our conclusions on food safety,” is how Stephen Sundlof, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, describes it. Although meat and milk products from cloned livestock have been deemed safe to eat, clones themselves are not expected to find their way into the U.S. food supply primarily because they will be used as breeding stock. This due in part to the fact that it’s expensive

to produce a clone. According to most estimates, the cost to produce one clone will run up to $15,000. That means it’s unlikely that farmers and ranchers will rush out to produce clones for America’s dinner table. Once the technology becomes more practical and widely available, clones will be used to introduce desirable characteristics – such as superior milk production or fat marbling – into herds much more rapidly than with conventional breeding. The offspring of clones and their progeny may someday be used to produce milk and meat products for America’s consumers. While the top food safety scientists in our nation have given this technology the green light, farmers are always concerned about how consumers view new developments in the food sector and will work hard to provide information that eases public concern. Cloning technology will give farmers and ranchers an additional production option, plain and simple. Because

this technology has gone through the appropriate regulatory review process and found to be safe, Farm Bureau supports farmers and ranchers having the option of being able to use it. Although initially the technology will be used to improve breeding stock, over time, food quality, safety and healthfulness should be enhanced as well, benefiting consumers and farmers. Bring in the clones. -- Cyndie Sirekis is a director of news services at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search.