[Fwd: FDA says cloned meat safe... again]

[Guest guest]

If you ever get a notion to fall off the wagon, think twice and read this article before slipping. This is an issue that gives me the goosebumps. I know many of you guys are raw or vegan, but just the principle of this is pretty insane! The Washington Post reported this week that not only has the FDA said cloned meat is safe, but we may already have it in our food chain. Friday, Jan 18, 2008 FDA Says Cloned Meat is Safe to Eat By Kevin Gianni Friday, Jan 18, 2008 06:47 Here's a recent article I wrote about the cloning of meat and milk from cows, pigs and goats. —- January 17, 2008 - Meat eaters in the US may be in for a shock. In the most detailed "risk assessment" on the safety of cloned foods to date, The FDA has reported that meat and milk from bovine, swine and goat clones is safe for human consumption.

This conclusion was derived from a comprehensive "risk assessment" study conducted by the FDA and obtained by the Washington Post. A statement taken from the 968 page FDA report in regard to bovine products states, "we conclude that there is no reason to expect that food from bovine clones would pose additional food safety risks compared with the same products derived from conventionally-bred cattle." On January 16th, A day after the report by the Post was released, the US Department of Agriculture called on farmers to voluntarily keep cloned animals out of the food chain until the idea of cloned meat in the marketplace gains wider acceptance and reach. This "voluntary moratorium" has been in effect since close to the beginning of the decade.

Bruce I. Knight, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the USDA, in a MSN news report says "there are only about 600 animal clones in the United States and most of these are breeding animals. 'So few clones will ever arrive at the marketplace.'" Though the relatively small number of cloned animals in the US may seem comforting for religious groups, activists and cloning opponents, there is evidence that cloned meat is already in our supermarkets. The Washington Post reported, "Executives from the nation's major cattle cloning companies conceded yesterday that they have not been able to keep track of how many offspring of clones have entered the food supply, despite a years-old request by the FDA to keep them off the market pending completion of the agency's safety report." The issue of cloned meat in the food supply has been contested much longer than the "years-old" request. A 2003 New York Times article reports, "Donald Coover of Galesburg, Kan., who sells semen for breeding, has been freezing semen from some clones of an Oklahoma bull named Full Flush... He said that this year alone he sold $100,000 worth of semen from Full Flush, enough to inseminate 2,000 cows." In 2008, Coover, told the Washington Post that it "is a fairy tale that this technology is not being used and is not already in the food chain." This is not the first time the FDA has released a report on the safety of cloned meat for human consumption. In reaction to a report released in December 2006, A poll, reported by ABC news, stated 65 percent said the cloning is

morally wrong. Because of the findings of the report, The FDA is not requiring special labeling on food derived from cloned animals or their offspring. In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority has released a public consultation on the issue of cloned meat and milk in the food supply. The EFSA states on their website, "the ESFA recognises that the issue of animal cloning raises ethical, moral and other societal issues beyond its remit... At this stage, EFSA has not finalised its scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment." The draft opinion is a call to scientists to contribute their findings to support or refute the information before February 25th, 2008. The

results of their findings will be available at earliest by May 2008. Commentary: Of course this is frightening. Cloned meat may have been in our food chain since 2003 or earlier. Many of us know this already. Some don't. I guess it is good for vegans and raw foodies, who don't succumb to carnivorous impulses, but for anyone else, it's an issue that definitely needs to be addressed. What is most ominous about this entire issue, is that there are insiders who've been aware of this all along. Just like anything, there are people in the know and people on out outside looking in. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with some people knowing things

and others not. What I think is wrong is that since possibly the beginning of the decade, according to Mr. Coover, cloned meats were in our food chain without complete study and relatively skimpy reports. A somewhat dangerous predicament. Now, 5 years after Coover was on the record for saying that he makes a decent chunk of change peddling cloned bovine semen, there's finally a 968 page report. This type of practice is what creates mistrust and harm, regardless of the findings after the fact. But all this is moot. I don't believe it's right or safe to clone cows or anything else in the first place. Stop messing with what is and let's fix what we're broken already. That's the real issue here. Remain Focused and Good Health to You Elaine

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