FDA Approves Cloned Animals for Store Shelves
| Tue Jan. 15, 2008 4:50 PM PST
The FDA announced today that cloned animals (and offspring and milk produced by said clones) are safe to consume. The agency said that cloned cows and pigs and other farmed animals "are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals." Which, as you may have read, isn't saying much.
But with cloned animals costing tens of thousands of dollars each, it's unlikely they will become a staple of our diet unless the technology that produces them is radically less expensive. Their offspring, instead, may be killed to provide consistent meat and milk products.
If you don't want to buy clones or cloned offspring, caveat emptor: the FDA "is not requiring labeling or any other additional measures for food from cattle, swine, and goat clones" or their offspring because the agency considers clones and non-clones identical. Food retailers and consumers, I think, will see the issue differently. I can just see the ads now: "the Carl's Jr. 100% ORIGINAL beef burger! No clones!"
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Comments
Submitted by Ames Tiedeman (not verified) on Tue Jan. 15, 2008 6:00 PM PST.
Nice info Jennifer, thanks!
B.S that crap is good to eat! That is why are food has no nutritional value in it! All the seeds are cloned, the food is cloned, this is a sick twisted world we are living in. What's next, are we going to clone people to fight our war's because we as an American society have gotten so fat we can't fight are own war's! But then again that would be great, now the rich wouldn't have to answer questions on why thier children weren't in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or some other country to boot. We will just create another lower class of humans. This would work great now that I think about it. Instead of being working poor, my status will be elavated to middle class!!! Of course I would still be poor , but I would have that middle class "status" tag! Absolutley brilliant!!
What to do:
Protest to the FDA... educate and demand accountability
Buy only certified organic... put your wallet where your mouth is
Demand labeling for cloned, hormone laden, factory farmed meats and pesticide contaminated GMO fruits, vegetables and grains,
Buy from local farm markets where you can meet the growers and farmers and ask questions about their farming practices... most are very happy to share info with you and are fighting like hell against the current situation too.
I actually solved about 80% of my health problems by switching to whole unprocessed foods from the local farm markets and everything tastes so much better too.
It's getting to the point where I feel like if my kids are going to be able to eat anything without my worrying about it, I'd better grow or raise it myself. Of course, with air and water and ground pollution what it is, who knows if that would be any better for them? But clones . . . .? Let's get real!
hopefully the next president's FDA will have a different, consumer-oriented perspective on the matter. Not too likely but maybe. In the meantime, lets not count on retailers stepping forward to advertise non-cloned products. If you are concerned, let know the supermarkets you shop at that you will not be buying their meat or milk, unless they are labeled as not coming from cloned animals.
The FDA is the same group that makes sure all vitamins and minerals have disclaimers and ingredient lists but do not require booze and cigarettes to display their ingredients.
The same group that approved the nasal flu "shot" that has killed many children, the same group that says its okay to give morphine to ease pain but not marijuana, the same group that approved oxy cotton pills - but is thinking of requiring the pasteurization of almonds - just in case.
The same group that says the poison aspertine is just dandy but has taken a solid stance against the perfect cheap and safe sugar substitute stevia (used in every other country in the world with no incident)
Expect when they are ardently against something its only because it will give big corporations/big pharma or the farm lobby competition...if they are for something corporations/big pharma or the farm lobby paid them off.
Gareenteed.
Welcome to the world of big government over regulation.........
Just think if they had control over our health care system
The FDA finds cloned animals to be identical to non-cloned animals because they are, in fact, identical. To say that a clone would be unsafe to eat would be like saying you can't eat both identical twins because they have the same DNA.
If you're this afraid of cloning, it's because you don't actually know how cloning works or what it is. You may be correct in being suspicious of government, but biologists aren't to be mistrusted to this degree.
