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Clone-Generated Milk, Meat May Be Approved
Elvis, a calf cloned by ViaGen Inc. of Austin and groomed for breeding.
(By Carol Guzy -- The Washington Post)
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Studies in the United States and Japan have shown meat from the offspring of clones to be nutritionally sound, and more research is underway. A clone is "a copy of the animals we already ate," Polejaeva said. "There's nothing different about them."
There are in fact subtle genetic abnormalities even in healthy-looking clones, said Konrad Hochedlinger, a scientist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., citing multiple studies in mice. Published research shows risks to the health of clones at all stages of their lives. But the genetic problems aren't likely to alter the food value of clones and aren't passed on to their sexually produced offspring, Hochedlinger said.
Asked if he'd be willing to eat clones or their offspring, Hochedlinger said: "I think I would."
So far, only scattered opposition has emerged to farm cloning. Animal-welfare groups have come out against it, saying it poses unnecessary risks to farm animals. The FDA has made clear it won't require labels on clone products, which may leave meat-eaters who want to avoid them little practical way to do so.
Some consumer groups have also balked, contending that Americans just aren't ready. "When the immediate reaction is 'yuck,' boy, you better watch out putting that in the food supply," said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, in Washington.
Among those watching warily as the FDA announces a policy will be the huge conglomerates that buy agricultural products and turn them into groceries.
One group, the International Dairy Foods Association, has voiced skepticism, partly from worry that overseas markets will reject American products. But the biggest American food companies haven't weighed in publicly. The companies might have sufficient power in the marketplace to kill agricultural cloning, if they chose, by imposing ground rules on farmers and slaughterhouses.
The companies will take their cues from the public's reaction to cloned food, said Mark Nelson, vice president of scientific and regulatory policy at the Grocery Manufacturers of America, in Washington.
"We support the science," he said. "But our members are in the business of selling food to the public. If the public doesn't want to eat Velveeta made from cloned milk, it ain't gonna happen."
