No more steak and hamburgers!
Where’s the beef?
Jessica Stewin, volunteer staff
Many people are worried about the American Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement that the food from cloned animals and their offspring is safe. Critics contend that this will make it possible for cloned meat to be sold at grocery stores. A statement from the FDA outlined that, “Following extensive review, the risk assessment did not identify any unique risks for human food from cattle, swine or goat clones, and concluded that there is sufficient information to determine that food from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as that from their more conventionally bred counterparts.”
However, many of the “successfully” cloned animals are very sickly, and many die earlier than their naturally born counterparts. A report from Consumer Affairs points out that the FDA’s data showed a large number of cloned animals do not make it to their first birthday. A National Academy of Sciences study indicated that sickly clones could have an increased likelihood of carrying bacteria that could infect consumers. They sighted such examples as salmonella and E.coli as possible bacteria that may be passed on through the animal products. When these questions were posed to the FDA, they acknowledged that there was no data on this in their risk assessment. This uncertainty raises legitimate concerns about the safety of the products produced from cloned animals, causing consumers to hope that these foods will be clearly marked.
The U.S. government has not yet established requirements for stores to label cloned meat that they may sell; however, politicians and animal-rights activists are putting pressure on the government to change that. Within hours of the FDA announcement an online petition began to circulate, with the goal of urging grocery stores to refuse to stock cloned meat. The Consumers’ Union is already calling on Congress to require the tracking and labelling of all foods from cloned animals, but we will have to wait to see if they are successful. Until such regulations are put in place, consumers who want to avoid cloned products will be forced to buy organic food. In fact, organic food stores may wish to advertise their “clone-free” meat, which may very well push the main stream organic craze to an even higher popularity. A national poll conducted by the Consumers’ Union in mid-2007 found that 89 per cent of consumers want cloned food to be labelled and that 69 per cent of respondents were concerned about eating milk or meat from cloned animals. These statistics could reflect the new numbers of people who will eat only non-cloned meat. However, it would be mainly meat from second- and third-generation clones that would enter the market, although milk from cloned cows could hit shelves. Regardless, it seems clear that people are avoiding cloned meat.
However, even though it’s true that the FDA’s announcement is the last legal hurdle before cloned foods could hit store shelves, the concerns of consumers may be misplaced. Cloned cattle actually costs around $16,000 to $20,000 a head to create, whereas a natural cow costs around $1,500. Making clones for the purpose of food is uneconomic; even if the process of cloning becomes more efficient, it is unlikely that cloned meat will be available for consumers any time soon.
The cloning companies and their patrons hope to use this technology to create multiple copies of an animal in order to upgrade the genetics of their herds. Judy Thorn, associate professor of biology at Knox College, has raised her concerns: “The thing that is scary is when you have bred corn so it grows perfectly in a specific environment and then the environment radically changes,” Thorn said. “You are going to be in big trouble because you no longer have genetic variety.” The same problem may easily occur in cloned animals as well.
The loss of genetic variety could leave us with cattle unsuitable for the environment of the future. This could potentially shift the ranching economy to areas where climate is suitable for the genetically “superior” cows of the future, or if no suitable environment remains, it could lead to the ultimate demise of these animals and the end of hamburgers, t-bones, and filet mignons.
Jessica Stewin is a University 1 student.
