CLONE WARS HIT STATE LEGISLATURES

Volume 29, Issue 508 February 4, 2008

Matthew Gever

The recent announcement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asserting that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe has met with skepticism from some state lawmakers. In at least nine states, legislation has been introduced requiring that food derived from cloned animals be labeled as such.

In January, the FDA released a series of documents assessing the risk of human consumption of cloned animals. Their conclusion: foods derived from genetic reproductions provide no additional risk to humans.

“After reviewing additional data and the public comments in the intervening year since the release of our draft documents on cloning, we conclude that meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones are as safe as food we eat every day,” said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The FDA has not reached a conclusion yet on the safety of other animal species, such as sheep.

Currently, the FDA does not require labeling, but it does give producers the option to label their products as “clone-free.” That’s not enough, say some legislators.

“There’s a yuck factor out there,” said Michigan House Speaker Pro Tempore Michael Sak, who has introduced a bill (HB 5611) to require that sellers of cloned animal products label them as such. He is still deliberating just who would do the labeling and when. “My intent is to make sure consumers have the opportunity to make an informed decision.”

“People have the right to know if food is organic, if it contains pesticides or growth-promoting hormones, or if it’s from cloned or naturally bred animals,” said California Senator Carole Midgen, whose bill (SB 1121) would require producers to label any foods made with cloned animal parts. Those who failed to comply could be fined.

The Legislature passed a similar bill last session, but it was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who expressed concern that the bill would violate existing federal standards. “Federal law prohibits states from enacting labeling requirements for meat and poultry that are in addition to those federally established,” said the Governor. “Further, I am concerned that this bill would require tracking and labeling requirements that could be unworkable, costly and unenforceable.”

Lawmakers in New York are considering the opposite approach. AB 7421 would require that all retailed meat and dairy products not made from cloned animals be labeled “clone-free.” “Given the short history of cloning, little data from long-term, multigenerational studies is available,” said Assemblyman Michael Benjamin in a memo.

Other states considering labeling bills are Kentucky (HB 378), Massachusetts (SB 255), Missouri (HB 1555), New Jersey (AB 1325), Tennessee (SB 3850), and Washington (SB 5161).

Fear Mongering?

Animals are cloned by taking the nuclei of cells from adult animals and fusing them into egg cells from which the nuclei have been extracted. If done successfully, the result is an animal that is genetically identical. Many meat and dairy producers see cloning as a significant advance since it would allow them to reproduce their best animals, thereby creating high-quality meat and dairy products. The cloned animals themselves would be used for breeding only and not for food, given the high price tag—several thousands of dollars—of creating a clone. This means that foodstuffs would be made from the offspring of cloned animals, and not the cloned animals themselves. Additionally, producers do not expect cloned products to hit the marketplace for a number of years as they try to perfect the process and bring down the costs.

Risks certainly exist. Initial studies from the FDA have found certain health risks for the surrogates carrying the fused eggs as well as for the few offspring derived from clones. However, most health problems dissipate as a calf grows up, with adult health status similar to animals of traditional breeding, according to the FDA.

Some point out that consumers are already eating cloned foods. “All of this fear-mongering about clones has made Americans forget that cloning is nothing more than artificially creating twins,” said Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, in an op-ed piece. “It has made us forget that every drop of wine we drink comes from cloned grapes. It has made us ignore the fact that if you want to worry about what you are eating, you'd be better off wondering if the FDA has enough inspectors at meat plants looking for salmonella and E. coli.”

© Copyright 2008, State Health Notes