'Clone-Free' Milk Could Get Label

"The scientific evidence is absolutely, robustly clear," Terry Etherton, chairman of animal science at Penn State University, is quoted as saying in the ad. "There is no food safety risk from the meat or milk of clones, or from their conventionally bred offspring."

The federation has collected more than 300 signatures of scientists who support the sale of milk and meat from clones and their offspring, based on studies reviewed by the FDA and the National Academies.

But opponents are also gearing up. The National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association, concerned that cloned cows may sully milk's wholesome image, lobbied Mikulski to slow the process. The senator had already expressed concern that safety studies were inadequate. She favors mandatory labeling of food from clones as a matter of "consumer choice," an approach the FDA generally eschews when safety is not an issue.

Consumer groups have also rallied.

Carol Tucker Foreman, of the Food Policy Institute and the Consumer Federation of America, criticized the industry plan as untrustworthy because it would be run "by the people who pushed cloning."

Joe Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety, a District-based advocacy group, called the plan "another attempt to force cloned milk and meat on consumers and the dairy industry by giving the public phony assurances."

Others have noted that most of the more than 150,000 public comments opposed FDA approval.

Surveys by the food industry-funded International Food Information Council have shown a slow increase in consumer acceptance of food from clones in the past few years, with about 22 percent having "favorable" views this year compared to 10 percent in 2004. The percentage with "unfavorable" opinions dropped during that period to 50 from 65.

Of particular relevance to the program being announced today is that people are getting comfortable with the idea of eating food from the offspring of clones faster than they are for food from the clones themselves, said Rachel Cheatham, the council's director of science and health communications.

About 570 cloned cattle are housed on farms and at university research stations today, about 75 percent of them made by ViaGen and Trans Ova Genetics of Sioux Center, Iowa. The goal is to give breeders superior stock to boost milk production and to produce more consistently high-quality cuts of beef.

The new plan would demand large deposits from farmers who buy clones from participating companies. The deposits would not be returned until the farmer documented that the animal had died and was disposed of outside the food chain -- or if in the food chain, properly identified as a clone.

Walton and Dave Faber, president of Trans Ova, said they believe other companies will sign on once the FDA gives marketing approval. "We've certainly had favorable feedback," Faber said.

But Steve Mower, director of marketing for Cyagra, an Elizabethtown, Pa., pig cloning company, said his company is not sure.

He said, "It sends kind of a mixed message, like 'Yes, it is safe' and 'No, it isn't.' "

Also unclear is whether the system would be seen by the FDA as reliable enough for it to allow meat and milk sellers to apply "clone-free" labels.

The FDA allows such "voluntary" labels only when their truthfulness can be verified, agency spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said. Thus the agency would allow clone-free labels only if it could be assured that all clone producers are participating in the program and that the incentives to be truthful are adequate.