FDA rules that cloned meat is safe

[patgund]

FDA Says Cloned Animals Safe Is Food

"Just over a decade after scientists cloned the first animal, the last major barrier to selling meat and milk from clones has fallen: The U.S. government declared this food safe Tuesday. Now, will people buy it?

Consumer anxiety about cloning is serious enough that several major food companies, including the big dairy producer Dean Foods Co. and Smithfield Foods Inc., say they aren't planning to sell products from cloned animals.

And the industry says most Americans would never eat a cloned animal for sheer economic reasons: At $10,000 to
$20,000 per cloned cow — compared with $1,000 for an ordinary steer — they're too valuable. They would be used primarily for breeding, to produce a steady supply of cattle that are particularly tender, for instance, or for prize dairy cows. It would be offspring of clones that consumers would eat."

Comments

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for vat grown protein. And the ensuing decades of arguments whether it's Kosher.

Oh, I'll keep eating meat in the meantime, I'm just looking for amusement value.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

I remember one story I read a while back that had the character checking a pre-made quiche to make sure the bacon was from a pig that was genetically engineered to have a cloven hoof and chew it's own cud. :-)

Seriously though, I've asked this question of people before and never really got an answer. Namely that if a commercially viable, ecologically sound method of "vat growing" meat was available, would people who currently are vegetarian or vegan due to moral reasons change their mind?

[duckflambe.livejournal.com]

My guess is that it would very from person to person. It would probably be enough for some people that the meat came from an animal originally.

However, I'd bet that for every vegan that accepts vat meat, you'll get two people who reject bio-engineered foods (aka "FrankenFoods") altogether. ;)

(Personally, I think bio-engineered foods may be the only way to save the planet...but that's a rant for another thread. ;))

[czina.livejournal.com]

Yummy! If people won't eat it - more steaks for those of us who will!

I figure - if it's got the genetics of a cow, is gestated like a cow, is fed and raised like a cow - it's a cow, and cows are food. From what I understand, they won't label any meat from such animals as 'cloned', because there is no scientific way to distinguish the meat from 'normal' cows.

So I say - make the meat more tender, and help fix the food supply to give good milk, etc. Heck - maybe they can breed for animals that don't need as many hormones or other 'unnatural' treatments, and then keep up a steady supply of such meat.

But as long as it moos, it's a cow to me, and bring on the brisket!

[astarrymist.livejournal.com]

Well, that settles it then! Besides trying to eat organically anyway, I've been worried that I might buy cloned-meant and not know it (I heard they do not have to label it as such), and so I buy meat from the health-food store.

I'd started to explain why I do to my dad, who immediately cut me off to tell me that all meat sold is U.S.D.A. approved, as if that's supposed to mean something! And the F.D.A. giving cloned meat its approval… yet another reason why things *not approved* by the F.D.A. are likely to be a healthier choice!

[duckflambe.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with cloned-meat?

I know cloning is not good for the animal in question, and it's just silly to clone an animal for food (there are much cheaper ways for animals to reproduce). So moral outrage is justified (although I'm guessing a cloned cow has a better life than a factory chicken).

But I see a lot of people worried about their personal health eating cloned meat. And I want to know why.

[lapiskelinia.livejournal.com]

I first heard about the whole idea on the radio the other day. It made my head hurt, like I'd quantum leapt into the future.

I'm waiting for the Diamond Age.