Fries with that Cloneburger?

By Barth Anderson

In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tentatively approved meat and dairy products from cloned animals for human consumption, a decision that set off a number of red flags with experts and industry leaders over herd health, genetic diversity and animal tracking.

While no immediate danger from the consumption of dairy products or meat from cloned animals was found in the FDA's findings, researchers have long understood that cloned animals tend to live shorter, less healthy lives than "non-clone" animals, posing serious questions about the health of U.S. herds should cloning become a widespread practice. The FDA admitted as much in its report, noting that "some animals involved in the cloning process... are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes relative to conventional animals." Efforts to clone endangered species have been largely unsuccessful for this reason.

This risk factor was spelled out in a 2001 study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which found that even when cloned animals appeared normal, they nonetheless harbored genetic disruptions from the cell culturing process that could have the potential to pose unseen dangers to the animal's health.

Since cloned animals may harbor these undetected, genetic disruptions, it would be virtually impossible to trace problems in the food supply without a rigorous tracking system in place, according to University of Minnesota's Organic Outreach Coordinator and past Chair of the National Organic Standards Board, Jim Riddle. Riddle cautions that because the FDA refuses to label or track cloned animal food products, cloning companies and users of the techology would be shielded from liability.

"Without traceability, the determination of harm, should harm occur, is virtually impossible," Riddle said.

Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog group, said there is no guarantee that some aspects of cloning will not creep into the organic food supply.

"For example, a cloned bull could potentially be used to impregnate dairy cows as high-production operations seek ways to further maximize their facility's milk production," Kastel said, "and those offspring could, under the USDA's present lax enforcement standards, find their way into organic production."

As a result of these various factors, and because consumers are clearly skeptical of cloned food products entering the food system, Riddle has called for a comprehensive economic impact analysis to examine cloning's impact on existing markets for conventional and organic livestock products.

"The real question with cloning is who is going to benefit -consumers? farmers? animals?" George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley Cooperative said. "Allowing animal cloning... to be patented by profit-driven companies has too many unknown risks and is a detriment to farmers and the future of our food supply."