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Coming to a store near you
Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration ruled that cloned meat is safe for consumption–although it won’t hit grocery store shelves quite yet.
”We found nothing in the food that could potentially be hazardous. The food in every respect is indistinguishable from food from any other animal,” FDA food safety chief Dr. Stephen Sundlof said. “It is beyond our imagination to even find a theory that would cause the food to be unsafe.”
And if the FDA says it’s safe, we should, of course, have complete trust in the government administration–right? Would you knowingly buy and eat cloned meat?
Topic: Newsworthy, WorldMagBlog
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back to top21 Comments to “Coming to a store near you”
I’m glad we get our meat from some livestock raising friends. The difference in quality and taste is out of this world.
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No I do not have “complete trust” in the government and no I would not buy and eat the stuff.
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A friend of mine visits her family in Spain. They own a farm. They ask what would she like for dinner, and then promptly go out and slaughter it. The vegetables are also freshly picked. My friend would agree with Bianca 100% and describes these meals as some of the best she’s ever had.
At my age, I’m not all that upset about cloned food, but I don’t like it. There is nothing wrong with the animals as God made them, and they need no “improvements.” If I had little kids, I would be more concerned because I’m not so sure the scientists really know the long-term effects of what they’re doing.
I understand that some companies are already labeling their food to tell consumers that the food is not cloned or genetically modified. I do my best to by organic, which supposedly is not cloned or modified.
I personally think the cloned food should be labeled, but I also understand that some of this stuff is already in the food chain. It would take an overwhelming negative reaction for this to happen, though I’m sure some companies/farms will create a niche market and stay non-cloned.
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Well, I would get used to it pretty quick. This is just another way, like genetic engineering, where we can cheaply and efficiently feed the starving of the world. Without these kinds of breakthroughs, people will die needlessly.
Progressives will call this progress no doubt and they will be right.
I hope they they don’t, by mistake, clone mad cows though.
Orm on purpose for that matter
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What a squirrely way to cast the discussion. No, I don’t have complete trust in the FDA. How is this pot shot even relevant?
Anyway, to answer the question, yes, I would knowingly eat meat from a cloned animal or the descendent of a cloned animal. I would have done it even prior to the release of the FDA’s findings. As the article states, clones are clones. They are genetically identical to the original animal. I’m no biologist, but it is indeed hard to imagine how there could be any danger. Though I disagree with them, I can understand why people are wary of pesticides and GM corn, but opposition to cloning (on the basis of health dangers, at least) seems particularly emotionally reactionary and uninformed.
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As the article points out, cloned animals are unlikely to be used for food because they are so expensive. The labelling issue is because of the possibility that some part of a cloned animal could be included with non-cloned animal products.
So in practice, I think the question for me as a consumer is not so much would I buy meat that is labelled “CLONED MEAT” as would I refuse to buy anything except meat guaranteed to “INCLUDE NO CLONED MEAT.” And the answer is no, I would not go out of my way to get the meat guaranteed to be “clone-free.”
Do I trust the government? Not in everything. But from what I read in this article I am not bothered by their handling of this particular issue.
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I will not eat them in a house; I will not eat them with a mouse. I will not eat cloned eggs and ham; I will not eat them Sam I am.
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If they clone a particularly tasty steer, I’ll eat it as often as possible.
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I don’t get why in the world someone would want to clone an animal. Don’t they have built-in features that do this for you? When will cloning be cheaper than buying or renting a bull? Maybe this is a way for us to use technology to get away from those crazy, unpredictable males out there or, at least, castrate them all?
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There goes JohnV being all reasonable and everything:)
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Cloning will not always be so expensive. Mass produced clones in factories is the wave of the food future. Unless you breed a perfect steer with another that has perfect chromosomes you will not get another perfect steer. Cloning is the exact duplicate of what someone considers perfection.
But you will not get even a better steer using cloning either. That is where genetic engineering comes in. Some, and I mean some, folks may balk at genetically engineered or cloned humans but they won’t when it comes to affordable beef or other foods.
It is getting nearly impossible to buy non genetically engineered corn, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, rice etc. If you find it, it will cost much more. Yep you can grow organic genetically engineered crops but they cost more too.
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Before anyone falls too much in love with cloned meat, or cloned veggies or fruit, do some research on our beloved banana. Genetic diversity is there for a reason.
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Does this mean that I can order a hamburger that is *exactly* like the one I had last Thursday? That was a great burger.
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In a vain attempt to educate myself, I stumbled upon this article/a>from a Jewish FDA attorney.
I mention Jewish because he talks about kosher issues. That might not be germain here, but he does offer up other evidence as to whether cloned foods has been deemed safe.
A good read.
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I really butchered that last post.
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Good one Lester.
I too have a beef with this idea, and I have a bone to pick with the FDA.
Seriously, folks, I don’t think there’d be any harm in eating meat from a cloned animal, but why?
And the lack of genetic diversity issue is really one to consider. Will the animals be susceptible to new diseases, etc. if we decide to keep eating the same cow/pig/chicken over and over again?
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Thanks for that link, Lester.
I was feeling a little squeamish about the idea of eating meat from cloned animals anyway. Thinking about the amounts of hormones and antibiotics used in cloning clinches my decision to avoid it.
Support your local farmers who don’t use growth hormones or antibiotics in their meat and milk products!
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Um, MMACMURRAY, cloning has nothing to do with hormones nor antibiotics, by the way.
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John M, I’m pretty sure I read in the article Lester linked to, as well as in other articles I’ve seen, that both growth hormones and antibiotics are involved in the process of raising the cloned animals to maturity. I realize that the cloning process itself does not involve either hormones or antibiotics.
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Sorry, that would be JohnV, not John M!
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I wouldn’t buy (cloned meat) or order it in a restaurant.
God created the animals, when we agree to eat things which have been ‘cloned’ by science, its a counterfeit.
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