US FDA unlikely to label cloned animal meat, milk

[Guest guest]

It seems they don't have enough with inseminating cows every year, or any

other animal so she get babies, then they grow/ or kill these babies...

but the end is the same... for someone's plate! But this! This really

makes me feel an urge to yell!!! Do they not kill enough?

f

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US FDA unlikely to label cloned animal meat, milk

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21300/story.htm

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WASHINGTON - U.S. consumers will most likely not know when they buy

hamburgers, bacon and milk products from cloned animals, a technology that

could be available by next year, government and industry officials said

yesterday.

John Matheson, regulatory review scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration, said the agency would not require labels on cloned animal

products if they are considered as safe as traditional food.

 

" If we find no problems with the products, we have no legal basis to

require labels or have companies differentiate between them, " he said at

an annual biotech industry conference.

 

Cloned animals, such as cattle, sheep and poultry, can be farmed to

provide more milk or eggs than their counterparts. Researchers also can

enhance the nutritional value of food, including lowering cholesterol in

eggs and leaner meat with enhanced vitamin content.

 

A cloned calf can sell for as much as $82,000.

 

The FDA was expected to release its risk assessment concerning the new

technology later this summer. The report will be the foundation for new

FDA guidelines, which could allow these products to be available by next

year.

 

" These products are perfectly safe, " said Steven Stice, chief scientific

officer of Georgia-based ProLinia Inc. " There's no need for labels. "

 

The privately owned company, which sells cloned cows and pigs, was in

discussions with mega-pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc., Stice said.

 

Last year, the National Academy of Sciences found no significant health

risks from cloned animal products. The report did recommend stronger U.S.

government oversight to ensure its safety.

 

Joe Mendelson, legal director for the Center for Food Safety, said it

hoped FDA would allow consumers to make a choice on whether to purchase

cloned meat.

 

" I certainly think consumer views are material and should be a legal basis

for labeling, " he said.

 

How consumers react to cloned animal meat could significantly influence

the commercialization of future biotech products.

 

Erik Forsberg, vice president of Wisconsin-based Infigen Inc., said

consumer acceptance of cloned animal meat would help alleviate fears

surrounding xenotransplants. The privately owned company produces cloned

cows and pigs in hopes of selling its organs for human use.

 

 

Story by Randy Fabi

 

Story 26/6/2003