Milk and Meat from Clones

[Anonymous]

I guess I have no problems with this- but I'm wondering what effect it will have on some of our so called trading partners :???: Is this going to start another battle like steroids in cattle, and GMO grains are doing? I see where we are having a difficult time selling any rice now because of the GMO problem....Is there really that much cloning going on? Is this worth the stink it may bring up?

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Today 10/17/2006 9:08:00 AM


US FDA Set To Approve Milk, Meat From Clones



NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may decide by the end of this year to allow the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals for public consumption, The Washington Post reports in its Tuesday edition.



The decision is based largely on new data indicating that milk and meat from cloned livestock and their offspring pose no unique risks to consumers, the Post said.



"Our evaluation is that the food from cloned animals is as safe as the food we eat every day," said Stephen F. Sundlof, the FDA's chief of veterinary medicine, the Post said.



Newspaper Web Site: http://www.washingtonpost.com

 

[Sandhusker]

I don't know.... you screw around with nature too much and you generally get clobbered.

 

[Judith]

Well,

we have proven that little boys are developing breasts (not man boobies, honest to goodness breasts) as young as 10 due to hormone use in dairy cattle and chicken. Do we really want to mess with this kind of thing????? I wish I could have snapped a photo of the unfortunate child at the waterslide park. His chest was all my poor mom could talk about for a week. She was horrified!

 

[IL Rancher]

Juduth, there are also arguments that this is being caused by the increased use of soy based oils in foods... Soy is way high in phytoestrogens... I personally think it is probably a combo of both.. Just stay away from the coconuts as they are super high in estrogens..

I wouln't worry so much about cloned animals for consumptiion but more so for producution... AS you narrow a genetic base aren't you exposing the herd to greater disease risks due to some potential thriftness issues (Yes, you assume they will only clone good stock but good stock might mean high producing not incredibly hardy)

 

[Judith]

I have also heard that plastics can cause sex changes in baby alligators. There was a plastics plant that leached the run off into a pond, I can't remember if they were all male or all female but the scientists were pretty shocked. We really do have have to be a bit more cautious with things. I had no idea that Soy was causing problems. Sheesh what's left to eat? Not that I would ever let anything soy pass my lips but if it did....

 

[cert]

There is more cloneing going on in the cattle world than most folks think.

 

[Murgen]

I have also heard that plastics can cause sex changes in baby alligators

Don't want to start rumours, but I saw some alligators with breasts too!

Hormones in Milk?

Here are the concentrations: of Estrogen

6 oz, non treated beef 2.6 ng

6 oz treated beef 3.8 ng

8 fluid oz milk 34ng

4 oz. cabbage 2700ng

1 tbs. Soybean oil 28, 370 ng

Normal Adult Male 136,000 ng

1 ng is 1 billionth of a gram.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like its already stirring up consumers groups :wink: :roll:


Today 10/17/2006 7:24:00 PM


Consumer Groups Alarmed As US Moves Toward Cloned Milk, Meat



WASHINGTON (AP)--The U.S. government said Tuesday it is moving closer to approving meat and milk from cloned animals, drawing protests from consumer groups.



The Bush administration is currently reviewing Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate cloned animals and food derived from them, the agency said in a statement. A draft of the plans should be released by the end of the year, FDA said.



The agency has "studies that show that the meat and milk from cattle clones and their offspring are as safe as that from conventionally bred animals," the FDA statement said.



The biotech industry says cloning lets breeders do what they've always done: select the best animals from the herd for reproduction.



"Cloning allowing the possibility of identifying the healthiest and the superior sires or boars that are going to be used for breeding purposes," said Barb Glenn of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.



A fight is brewing over whether food from cloned animals must carry special labels.



"We feel like the average consumer is going to accept this technology as we move forward," Glenn said. "There will not be a label that will indicate this is anything other than healthy meat and milk."



Dairy producers are worried about what might happen if "clone-free" products start showing up in supermarkets.



"We have concerns where people are going to try to draw distinctions and differences where none exist," said Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.



The federation opposes putting cloned milk on the market, at least until it's proven safe. Galen said producers worry it could interfere with widely held beliefs among consumers about the wholesomeness of milk.



The Washington-based Center for Food Safety said food labels should disclose that it came from cloned animals. Concerns over hormones and antibiotics have helped drive ever-growing demand for organic food, said Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety.



"Because consumers are not getting the specific product information, it will impugn the whole conventional market," Mendelson said.



The Consumer Federation of America said years of independent polling, including a survey by the Gallup organization and the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, indicate that consumers oppose animal cloning and wouldn't buy cloned meat and milk even if the government declared them safe.



In contrast to the dairy industry, beef producers are watching with interest but haven't taken a position. The major beef group, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, sees potential in cloning.



"Our guys are all about new technology, starting back with artificial insemination to embryo transfer," said Leah Wilkinson, the beef association's food policy director. "This is just another one of those assisted reproductive techniques. This one's got some potential to help us in the consistency area."



Consumer acceptance of that tool is "definitely something we will be watching," Wilkinson said.



She said it's important to make a distinction between food that comes from cloned animals and food that comes from their offspring.



"The key thing is, it would be the offspring of clones that would be going into the food supply," she said. "Our ranchers are not going to spend $20,000 to clone an animal and then put it into the food supply."



Source: Dow Jones Newswire