Wires, dailies: Folks may have their qualms, but feds are sure cloned food is safe
No surprise here: If you clone an edible animal, the clone and its offspring are nutritionally fit for the fryer too. But the FDA’s conclusion that it therefore needs no safety label is news anyway. Announcement of the decision to favor such a rule came today. Several curtain-raisers and breaking-news accounts are already in circulation. Some activists don’t like it. As one told the AP’s Libby Quaid, “Consumers are going to be having a product that has potential safety issues and has a whole load of ethical issues tied to it, without any labeling.” With some people, one suspects, it’s a yuck factor. No science rationale to it, but they want to know anyway.
Another enviro complains that the proposal ignores the higher rate of deformities and deaths among cloned animals. No word how that’s a dinner table hazard. A public hearing and comment phase is next. The final rule could change. One easily imagines that market forces should suffice to determine labeling practices. The news also passes along the notable name of the journal in which FDA scientists explain things: Theriogenology. It’s the science of animal reproduction.
Other stories:
Bloomberg Catherine Larkin, Alan Bjerga; Baltimore Sun Jonathan D. Rockoff who points out there’s no sign that herds of cloned livestock will be heading for the abattoire anytime soon anyway; USA Today Elizabeth Weise; Washington Post Dec. 25 Rick Weiss who writes that “vague emotions,” not precise facts, are behind public discomfort with cloned chops. He gives such worries a sympathetic rundown; USNews & World Report Josh Fischman writes “you can’t tell the difference — even under a microscope”; Des Moines Register Philip Brasher;
Addendum Stories (Dec. 29):
NY Times Andrew Pollack, Andrew Martin; NPR Richard Harris; NPR Robert Siegel (on cloning cattle as a commercial prospect);
Grist for the Mill:
FDA Press Release; Biotechnology Industry Organization Press Release; Int’l Dairy Food Ass’n Press Release;
December 28th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
While it’s true that cloned animals often have abnormalities, their offspring are fine. The reason is that the cloning process alters the ability of some genes to be expressed properly. But the genes are still there, still normal and are passed on to progeny conceived the usual way. In that second generation, all genes are expressed normally.