So much for Bush's anti-cloning stance, but then I guess animals don't count because they probably don't have a Christian soul according to the president.
The government declared Thursday that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. Officials said they don’t think special labels are needed, although a decision on labeling is pending.
Because scientists concluded there is no difference between food from clones and food from other animals, “it would be unlikely that FDA would require labeling in those cases,” Sundlof said.
Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said the FDA is ignoring research that shows cloning results in more deaths and deformed animals than other reproductive technologies.
Those in favor of the technology say it would be used primarily for breeding and not for steak or pork tenderloin. Cloning lets farmers and ranchers replicate exceptional animals, such as pigs that fatten rapidly or cows that are superior milk producers.
To produce a clone, the nucleus of a donor egg is removed and replaced with the DNA of a cow, pig or other animal. A tiny electric shock coaxes the egg to grow into a copy of the original animal. Cloning companies say it’s just another reproductive technology, such as artificial insemination, yet there can be differences between the two because of chance and environmental influences. And Bush has a problem with Stem Cells!!
Some surveys have shown people to be uncomfortable with food from cloned animals; 64 percent said they were uncomfortable with such food in a September poll by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a nonpartisan research group. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16372490/
Just when I thought factory farming was at its worst!
