Cloned animals get FDA’s OK
WASHINGTON – Meat and milk from cloned farm animals are safe to eat, the government announced Tuesday in a move that paves the way for the sale of the food.
But limits on production are expected to keep the products from reaching grocers’ shelves for years, and ongoing consumer skepticism prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ask Tuesday for an indefinite delay in order to educate shoppers before they are given the choice.
After reviewing numerous scientific studies, the Food and Drug Administration found that food derived from cloned cows, pigs, goats and their offspring is as safe to eat as products from conventionally-bred livestock.
“The likelihood that anything would go wrong from a food safety standpoint is unimaginably small,” said Stephen Sendoff, director of the FDA’s food safety division.
Industry has been holding off selling food products from clones since 2001, and Bruce I. Knight, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, expected a voluntary moratorium on products from the 600 clones currently on farms to continue for several months.
Even after the ban is lifted, it is unlikely pork chops and steaks from cloned livestock will hit store shelves because the technology is too expensive to use clones for anything but breeding. The moratorium doesn’t apply to the offspring of clones, but given that there are 200 million meat- and milk-producing farm animals in the United States, it will probably take several years before there are enough progeny to have a significant impact on the food supply.
What’s more, many in the food industry want to wait before introducing food derived from clones. Food makers and sellers fear a trade backlash. They also worry the possibility will scare away consumers in the same way that use of hormones to increase milk production spurred many to turn to organic products.
Cloning supporters hope the FDA’s respected imprimatur, along with a growing appreciation that the technology doesn’t involve genetic modification, will persuade most consumers to view cloning as simply the latest farm technology. Yet liberal interest groups showed no signs of backing off their opposition on scientific and animal welfare grounds.
Joseph Mendelson, legal director for the Center for Food Safety, urged Congress to pass legislation requiring the labeling of food from clones and further study of the long-term safety.