Sunday, February 04, 2007
No Labeling Requirement for Cloned Meat?
I seem to be on a food labeling roll at the moment. It must be a reaction to the gesundheitgeist: when the business word starts sneezing, you want to get out of the way.
The latest case in this story from AG Weekly is that the FDA will not require labeling for meat that comes from cloned animals. As that's probably going to happen in the next year, this is a fairly immediate problem for those who are ready to assume that the governmental green light should mean go ahead. According to this story, scientists have found no difference in safety between eating meat from animal or their clones. But given that the technology is only ten years old, I'm betting that the tests haven't been going on that long, which would mean no extended studies.
Apparently the FDA is more concerned about the right of companies to sell cloned meat than about the right of people to not eat it, which is difficult if you you can't tell from the packaging. There's even question whether meat graded USDA organic can be from cloned animals or not. Those in the organic industry are saying no, but the biotech companies creating clones are saying that the technique is not "genetic engineering," but rather a way to help animals reproduce, and does not violate USDA standards. If carbon copies are considered a form of reproduction, how long will it be before we find photocopiers in fertilization clinics?
The latest case in this story from AG Weekly is that the FDA will not require labeling for meat that comes from cloned animals. As that's probably going to happen in the next year, this is a fairly immediate problem for those who are ready to assume that the governmental green light should mean go ahead. According to this story, scientists have found no difference in safety between eating meat from animal or their clones. But given that the technology is only ten years old, I'm betting that the tests haven't been going on that long, which would mean no extended studies.
Apparently the FDA is more concerned about the right of companies to sell cloned meat than about the right of people to not eat it, which is difficult if you you can't tell from the packaging. There's even question whether meat graded USDA organic can be from cloned animals or not. Those in the organic industry are saying no, but the biotech companies creating clones are saying that the technique is not "genetic engineering," but rather a way to help animals reproduce, and does not violate USDA standards. If carbon copies are considered a form of reproduction, how long will it be before we find photocopiers in fertilization clinics?
