Americans are already subject to GM (genetically modified) foods invading their diet and often consume them without even knowing it. It’s now been revealed that another form of Frankenfood may be hitting US consumer’s plates – meat from cloned animals.
This article on ENN started out as a piece about the USDA asking farmers to continue a voluntary moratorium to keep cloned animals off the market although the FDA said that meat from cloned animals was safe to eat.
.. but deeper in the article are the revelations:
“Executives from the nation’s major cattle cloning companies conceded yesterday that they have not been able to keep track of how many offspring of clones have entered the food supply”
.. and
“At least one Kansas cattle producer also disclosed yesterday that he has openly sold semen from prize-winning clones to many U.S. meat producers in the past few years, and that he is certain he is not alone.”
Much like in vitro meat, the ethics and health issues behind cloned meat (and other products of cloned animals) is a topic of hot debate even though the FDA has given their stamp of approval.
I can’t say I know much about the pros and cons behind it all; but the “bigger, better, faster, stronger” approach we take to just about everything has often blown up in our faces. I’m all for technology improving, and I mean really improving our lives – but sometimes I think we just play God (or Gaia) a little too much. Maybe I’m just a Luddite.
As a consumer, would you want to know if the meat or cheese you’re eating or the milk you’re drinking was from a cloned animal?