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sirtgl
30-Dec-06, 00:39

US to approve cloned meat
US to approve cloned meat

By Chris Williams
Published Thursday 28th December 2006 11:00 GMT



The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will declare today that meat from cloned animals is safe to eat.

A safety assessment released on Thursday is expected to approve the entry of products from genetically identical cattle and other livestock into the human food chain.


The FDA indicated which way the wind was blowing back in 2005. Now an article published by its scientists in the journal Theriogenology dated January 1 forms the scientific basis of the approval. Larisa Rudenko and John C Matheson wrote: "[The FDA] concludes that meat and milk from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat as corresponding products derived from animals produced using contemporary agricultural practices".

The pair said no special labelling of cloned meat would be needed, which has outraged some consumer groups. AP reports Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Centre for Food Safety, said: "Consumers are going to be having a product that has potential safety issues and has a whole load of ethical issues tied to it, without any labelling."

Concerns have been raised about the safety of cloned animals since the world's first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, died prematurely with arthritic joints. Complex enviromental factors can have an effect on embryo development, and the impact of the cloning process is not known fully.

The FDA's announcement is expected to have a significant impact worldwide, with many nation's habitually taking the FDA's lead on safety issues. In the EU food products classed as "novel", like cloned animals, have to get case-by-case approval from the European Commission. A green light seems unlikely given the anti-GM crops line the Commission took.

There has been a voluntary moratorium on cloned meat and milk in place for five years Stateside. Industrial scale ranchers have been keen to see the shackles off, as cloning would allow them to reproduce their tastiest, or biggest, or fastest growing individuals ad infinitum.

The announcement is unlikely to have an immediate impact down at WalMart though. Attrition rates for cloning are still far too high for it to be economical to clone meat on an industrial scale.

More likely in the early stages is that cloned bulls would be raised by biotech firms and sold to ranchers for insemination of their herds, for example. The LA Times reports one rancher said he has cloned his prize bull five times and its progeny is already in the food chain. ®

www.theregister.co.uk" target="_blank">-> www.theregister.co.uk
captaingoodvibes
30-Dec-06, 01:36

Hmmm seems kinda foolish when we make too many moves towards monoculture with animals or any
foodstuff. Safety lies with some diversification and a mixed gene pool. That said, I wouldnt put worrying
about any negative effects on the food chain anywherenear the apex of my worry hierarchy........but then
I'm vegetarian anyways  
saintinsanity
31-Dec-06, 02:29

It can't possibly
be cheaper to clone food that to just let them reproduce naturally. Can it?
soulcrates
31-Dec-06, 02:34

Markallen,
I would like to hear more about vegetarianism. Do you not eat Chickens or Fish either? I could understand getting rid of beef and pork, because of the fat factors, but Chicken and Fish? Well, I'll wait until you answer it to discuss this further, but how do you feel physically? I knew a kid who was a vegetarian, and he was underweight by quite a bit. When he got married, his wife turned him back into meat, and within a year of marriage, he gained a solid 40 pounds, and looked to be in great shape. Are you underweight, or have you been able to keep a solid mass? Perhaps you're in the shape of a long distance runner? Very thin, but very in shape.
soulcrates
01-Jan-07, 23:23

I'd like to clone my meat.
I'd be rich!
zorroloco
02-Jan-07, 09:37

soul
i was a veg for about 15 years. i felt great, and was buff, not underweight. the problem a lot of folks have is that they go veg by simply cutting meat out of their diet. that is not good enough. one needs to be thoughtful about where one gets one's complete protein.
leo_london
02-Jan-07, 10:05

Jeff..
Buff ?..a pale yellow-brown color named from the color of the leather of the Water Buffalo ?
or " in the buff " ?... a slang term for being naked ?
Happy New Year mate !  
zorroloco
02-Jan-07, 10:18

leo
buff, as in 'in good shape.' but, now that you mention it, in those days, i was sans vêtements quite often : ) as far as the color of a water buffalo...i can't truly say.
soulcrates
02-Jan-07, 17:57

Jeff,
how would one go about getting their complete protein requirements without meat? I'm sure fruit, nuts, and vegetables are good for that, but what other types of food would you recommend, if any?
zorroloco
02-Jan-07, 17:59

dairy, soy, beans, nuts, eggs, and rice if eaten regularly will provide a complete protein. some would say you need to take a vitamin b supplement to get b-17.
soulcrates
02-Jan-07, 18:03

Potatoes,
Corn, Rice, Eggs. They all sound so good, but the only thing I think they're missing is chicken. I wouldn't think vegetarians could eat eggs, but then are they allowed to eat chickens or fish? I would love to say I'm a vegetarian while eating some bbq chicken.
zorroloco
02-Jan-07, 18:21

soul
the only rules are what you choose. some people eat no animal products of any kind, some eat dairy, some eggs, some both. some eat fish, and some only do not eat red meat. some don't eat pork.

personally, if it was an animal, i do not think you can call yourself a veg if you eat it.
proginoskes
02-Jan-07, 18:36

if it was living and bleeds - that sounds a lot like "meat" . . .
captaingoodvibes
02-Jan-07, 20:41

soul it's easy to get a complete diet from non animal sources with the possible exception of vitamin b12.

Vegetarians that look sickly are generally kids who eliminate meat from the diet without substituting anything else. All the amino acids (protein building blocks) that a body needs are easily accessible from beans, nuts, grains etc and in general our taste buds drive us towards apropriate mixes of food to achieve (for instance beans on toast... beans or grains alone would be an incomplete profile but together make for a "complete protein" intake).

Vitamin b12 is complex theoretically as outside animal sources it's fairly rare (mushrooms are one good source as are fermented soy products such as tempeh). However , if you have a healthy gut , the bacteria in you gut will make it for you! Cool huh?

As to how i feel physically, I'm afraid i'm a bad example as i have a muscle disease which impacts on energy availabilty. My wifes a veggie too though and she's as strong as an ox from carrying all the shopping bags!!! ;-p
soulcrates
02-Jan-07, 21:59

Ok,
thanks for that info mark, I have been adding non-meat proteins into my diet, but I still eat chicken, and sometimes hamburger ever so often. Fish is on my list, and I don't think that will ever go away. I have, however, cut out all seafood except fish. I've also cut out pork, and slowly, but surely improving my diet to a point where my health is not affected negatively.



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