Show r FDA DA declares cloned meat milk safe Karen Kaplan Los Los Angeles Times The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday declared that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as the natural versions clearing the way for the products to enter the food supply without special labeling g. g In releasing their final risk riska a assessment on the safety of cloning technology the FDA a asked ked producers to continue k keeping cloned cattle pigs and goats out of the food supply during a transition period of unspecified length to give the market arket time to adjust But products from the offspring o of clones can be sold to the public immediately the federal agency said Meat and milk from clones of cattle swine and goats and their offspring are as safe to eat as as food from conventionally bred animals said Randall Lutter the FDA's deputy commissioner for policy Government scientists said they did not have enough information on cloned sheep or other species to rule that they were safe to eat Initially only a small amount of steaks pork and dairy products derived from clones will become available in grocery stores But over the next three to five years after ranchers have time to clone their most prized animals and those clones are able to breed the products will become routine on store shelves industry executives said The decision was based on dozens of studies conducted around the world that found that meat and milk from clones is biologically indistinguishable from the meat and milk offered in stores and restaurants today Critics remain unconvinced Sen Barbara D is pushing an amendment to the pending farm farm bill that would require require th the FDA to conduct conduct further studies before ruling that clones are safe The FDA's bullheaded action Tuesday disregards the will of the public and the Senate said Andrew Kimbrell executive director of the Center for Food Safety in Washington DC D.C. action has placed the interests of a handful of biotech firms above those of the public they are are charged with protecting Even with the FDA's endorsement producers face an uphill battle persuading consumers to accept the newfangled technology A survey conducted last year by the International Food Information Council which is supported by the he food beverage and agricultural industries found that only 22 percent of US U.S. consumers had a favorable view of animal cloning compared to 50 percent who were opposed If deemed safe by the FDA the proportion of people who said they would accept animal cloning for food would rise to 46 percent percenta a substantial increase but still stilla a minority of consumers the survey found Cloning advocates acknowledge that the technology has a yuck factor that has been difficult to shake The entertainment industry has used the word clone in a negative context said Jerry Baker chief executive of the Federation for Animal Science Societies in Savoy Ill a ahard ahard ahard hard one for us to overcome but we have to continue to try Scientists frequently point out that clones are not genetic mutants but identical twins of naturally produced animals that are just born at a different time To make a clone scientists remove the DNA from the nucleus nucleus' of a normal egg and replace it with DNA from a prized animal A tiny electric shock induces the egg to grow into a genetic copy of the original animal No new genes are introduced or modified as part of the process Were not out to create some kind of abnormal individual Baker said Producers like Limousin cattle rancher Larry Coleman of Charlo Mont say they simply want to extend the breeding capabilities of their most superior animals Coleman spent for three clones of his late prized bull First Down whose semen sells for as much as a vial and is in short supply By offering semen from the clones born in 2002 Coleman hopes to multiply his sales while offering breeders the same quality high-quality product at ata ata ata a cheaper price But because he has abided by bythe bythe bythe the FDA's voluntary moratorium against introducing meat and milk from clones and their then offspring into the food supply Coleman is Cloned Meat Continued on Cloned Meat confirmed s safe afe Continued from A 1 still waiting for his chance lr The livestock k industry industry has a long record of using usino assisted reproduction technologies s to improve the quality of its herds Once weve we've identified the the superior animals we want to use those to the extent possible to produce the next generation Baker said The FDA began studying the safety of cloned food in 2001 It commissioned a report from the National Academy of Sciences which found the risk presented by cloned animals and their offspring was small A 2006 study by scientists from the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine scrutinized the vitamins minerals proteins amino ammo acids fat water and content and carbohydrate nutritionally or found no toxicologically important differences Clones are more likely to die in or shortly after birth and to have birth defects They also pose a ato risk to their surrogate mothers tend to be i because they larger than their naturally conceived counterparts clones that But the Survive survive into adolescence healthy as other are are just as the he animals according to 2006 study Screening methods already in place that would prevent clones cloncs abnormal from are sick or entering the food supply so no additional safeguards the required should be scientists said clones clone are Relatively few burgers become likely to cost bacon because they than or than far more to produce worth at a aI af would be they I slaughterhouse for J f currently ch charges example single clone a 17 to and for a pIg cow that are e it is their offspring on a wind likely to up more I. 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