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“Welcome to Dolly’s Clone Zone,” enthused our young waiter as he showed us to our table.

Handing us menus, he said, “You’ll be pleased to learn that we feature the finest in nuclear transferred cloned meat. Take a minute to check out our somatic cell nuclear transfer cloned (SCNT) lamb, which was formulated in a Texas lab. By the way, our restaurant’s namesake, Dolly the sheep, was the first live SCNT clone produced from a cell taken from an adult mammal.

“As for beef, our specialty comes courtesy of embryonic cell nuclear transfer technology (ECNT). If you have any questions or concerns, I’ll locate our food systems techie, who really understands the science aspect of the process.”

While the preceding restaurant scenario might seem farfetched, if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gets its way, the only thing implausible about the aforementioned dining experience would be the fact that the server wouldn’t know if the meat was cloned or not.

FDA Says Okay

On January 15, 2008, the FDA issued a press release announcing that it was safe for Americans to consume milk and meat from clones of cattle, swine, and goats. The FDA stated, “The agency is not requiring labelling or any other additional measures for food from cattle, swine, and goat clones, or their offspring, because food derived from these sources is no different from food derived from conventionally bred animals.” The FDA didn’t include meat from sheep, citing a lack of risk analysis information.

Moratorium Continues

Ironically, the US Department of Agriculture, under direction from an amendment to the December 2007 Senate-approved Farm Bill, which called for a thorough and careful review of the repercussions of allowing cloned products into the food chain, was forced to ask producers of clones to maintain their voluntary moratorium, in place since June 2001.

Biotechs are Ready

Despite the request for a continued moratorium, Jim Greenwood, President of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which lobbies on behalf of more than 1,150 biotech companies, lauded the FDA’s decision and added, “The biotechnology industry looks forward to working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and members of the food value chain to support an orderly transition and introduction of products from cloning technology into the marketplace.”

Consumers Aren’t

Among consumer groups, scientific panels, and millions of concerned citizens, there was an outcry of dismay, disbelief, and outrage at what they feel is yet another misguided and potentially harmful FDA decision.

Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety (CFS), a public interest advocacy organization, complained, “The FDA’s bullheaded action today disregards the will of the public and opens a literal Pandora’s box. The FDA based their decision on an incomplete and flawed review that relies on studies supplied by cloning companies that want to force cloning technology on American consumers.”

Consumers Union (CU), a US consumer rights advocacy group, assailed the inadequacy of the FDA’s cloned meat risk assessment and its decision to not require labelling of cloned milk and meat.

According to Michael Hansen, Senior Staff Scientist with CU, “The FDA’s own data show that a large proportion of cloned animals do not make it to their first birthday. Many fail to survive gestation, and others have birth defects such as squashed faces, deformed limbs, and immune deficiencies. Consumers have a right to choose whether they eat milk and meat from clones.”

The CFS concurs with Hansen’s position. Its March 2007 report, Not Ready for Prime Time: FDA’s Flawed Approach to Assessing the Safety of Food from Animal Clones, finds that the FDA’s risk assessment “is based on unsubstantiated assumptions, misreported findings, and flawed analyses of scientific research.” Of particular concern is the fact the FDA has been unable to locate peer-reviewed food safety studies on meat from cloned cattle, pigs, or goats.

Joe Skelton is a Langley, BC-based writer with an interest in environmental and natural health issues. He doesn’t eat meat, cloned or otherwise.

Source: alive #310, August 2008