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Stop Meat and Milk from Cloned Animals - Extended Deadline

WASHINGTON, April, 2007 - The Food and Drug Administration first proposed that it might permit the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals in 2003, resulting in public reaction that has run the gamut from interest to horror. Now the FDA, citing new data, expects to give its stamp of approval very soon, and has extended the comment period to May 3rd.

Stephen F. Sundlof, the FDA's chief of veterinary medicine responsible for the agency's risk assessment, maintains that "food from cloned animals is as safe as the food we eat every day." But the FDA has never published the complete scientific studies it says support that claim.
According to the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a nonpartisan research and education project, surveys show that more than 60 percent of the U.S. population is uncomfortable with the idea of animal cloning for food and milk.

The Washington-based Center for Food Safety has filed a petition with the FDA asking that cloned animals be classified as "transgenic animals" - animals that have been engineered by adding specific genes. This means they would be regulated the same way as new pharmaceuticals, under a category called "New Animal Drugs". The petition states, "The available science shows that cloning presents serious food safety risks, animal welfare concerns and unresolved ethical issues that require strict oversight." They are also urging that, if cloned foods are approved after all, that there be mandatory labeling to alert consumers who wish to avoid them.

Cloned meat and milk offer no public economic benefits. Having cloned cows produce more milk won't reduce milk prices. U.S. farmers produce more milk than we drink, and the government is required to buy the surplus. Since 2000, dairy support programs have cost taxpayers more than $5 billion.

We at Citizens for Health are "sour" on the idea of milk and meat from cloned animals. We support the Center for Food Safety's petition to the FDA, and urge you to do the same.

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November 22, 2009

Subject:
FDA: Please Deny Approval of Meat and Milk from Cloned Animals

Dear FDA:

I am writing to you in support of the petition filed by the Center for Food Safety, Docket #2003N-0573.

It was recently reported that you intended to grant approval for the sale of meat and milk from cloned animals, citing new data suggesting such meat and milk is safe for human consumption.  Yet, you have failed to publish the complete scientific studies that support this claim.

Surveys show that more than 60% of the U.S. population is uncomfortable with the idea of animal cloning for food and milk. Public concerns for safety are due to evidence that genetic changes seen in some clones may alter the very nutritional nature of meat. Your agency itself acknowledges that clone pregnancies result in more miscarriages, deformities and premature deaths than do other technologies.

Instead, I urge you to require that the food safety and animal welfare issues in animal cloning are resolved with long-term, independent and transparent testing before cloned foods are marketed. Such testing should put the burden of proof of safety on the clone developers, to protect the public from these untested, experimental foods.

Finally, you should take seriously the moral and ethical concerns of people who object to animal cloning. Those who object to the technology on moral grounds should have the choice not to use it.  It is not clear that the food safety and animal welfare issues in cloning can be resolved, but even if they are, the agency must protect those who object to cloning by requiring mandatory labeling of cloned foods.

In sum, I urge you to impose a legal ban on the sale of food from cloned animals until:
The agency establishes a mandatory pre-market review process, including independent and transparent long-term testing (with the burden of proof of safety on the clone developer) to demonstrate food safety; 
Animal cruelty issues from the frequent deformities and health problems of animal clones are technically resolved and meet the highest standards for animal welfare; 
Broad public discussions have resolved the unique ethical and moral issues raised by cloning; 
You have required labeling for all food from clones and their offspring, to protect consumer choice.

Thank you.

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