After FDA Approval, Input Sought from Montanans on Cloning

[Guest guest]

Well, this is not something out of a science fiction

movie!

Read on,

Michele

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/after_fda_approval_input_sought_from_montan\

ans_on_cloning/C520/L40/

After FDA Approval, Input Sought from Montanans on

Cloning

By Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel, 1-22-08

Jopek's Farm

Two weeks ago, I reported on the possibility that the

FDA would make a decision that cloned meat and milk is

safe to eat. This article follows up on that story,

after the FDA released their decision on January 15th

that cloned food is indeed safe to enter our food

chain.

This week, Whitefish, Montana’s State Representative

Mike Jopek, sent out an email asking constituents to

tell him what they think about cloned food. In it, he

writes:

“I am looking for input as I truly respect the insight

on the best approach. If no approach at all is

warrented, (sic) please let me know. I also know many

folks are unaware of this debate and may rather I

continue to advocate for a more fair tax climate,

better state funding of our education system, and

clean water and open public lands. But I am a farmer

who believes that good food is the foundation to a

great health system.”

The organic farmer’s outreach comes less than a week

after the FDA decided that cloned milk and meat are

safe to eat. “We found nothing in the food that could

potentially be hazardous. The food in every respect is

indistinguishable from food from any other animal,”

according to FDA food safety chief Dr.

Sundlof. “It is beyond our imagination to even find a

theory that would cause the food to be unsafe.”

Even so, the USDA has asked producers to continue a

voluntary moratorium on sales of meat or milk from

clones for a little longer, claiming that this

decision is solely for marketing reasons and to

distribute the safety findings among foreign trade

partners and food companies. As Bruce Knight, USDA

Undersecretary, said, “This is about market

acceptance.”

But that market acceptance may come by default since

the USDA moratorium applies to clones but not their

offspring. Companies producing clones, such as Viagen

Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics, have already focused

their efforts on immediately selling the offspring of

clones into the market…no labels required.

For Jopek, “Montanans know best and have a right to

morally good food,” and the government’s decision puts

that at risk. Subsequently, he is considering

reintroducing a bill in the 2009 Legislative Session

that would put a moratorium on cloned milk and meat

products in Montana. The bill could also include

mandatory labeling of cloned milk and meat and ban

public funding for research on animals cloned for

consumption.

Jopek introduced a similar bill (opens pdf) in 2007,

which would have put a similar ban in place. According

to Jopek, this bill failed in the House Agricultural

Committee because of “heavy lobbying from

big-corporate agricultural interest.”

Jopek is not alone in his concern. Margaret Mellon,

Director of the Food and Environment Program at the

Union of Concerned Scientists writes:

“Animal cloning is a controversial technology with

few, if any, benefits to consumers. Although

successful clones may appear normal, the possibility

remains that some may harbor subtle genetic defects

that could impair their health or make them unsafe for

consumption. The FDA should have required that cloned

products be labeled as such and kept them off the

market at least until it established a mandatory

tracking system to allow retailers to avoid purchasing

the products.

“The agency’s risk assessment is long on assumptions

and short on hard data. It fails to address ethical

issues associated with cloning, including the role of

animal cloning as a steppingstone to human cloning.

Because of these risks Jopek, calls the decision to

allow cloned products into our food supply, “bad for

our family farmers, our morals, our State, and

consumer confidence.” Whether Montanans agree with him

is yet to be seen.

Join Kisha Lewyllen Schlegel each week for a

discussion about local food and agriculture in the

Rocky Mountain West at www.newwest.net/spadeandspoon.

Resources: If you have comments, contact: Rep. Mike

Jopek mike@... 406.250.1184

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