Human Food From Cloned Animals

[Melody]

FDA Poised to OK food From Cloned Animals (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16372490/)

MSNBC reports that "Federal scientists have concluded there is no difference between food from cloned animals and food from conventional livestock, setting the stage for the government to declare Thursday that cloned animals are safe for the human food supply." {Full story linked to title}

So what do you think? Should Canada follow suit?

[CACAdmin]

I don't think we should follow suit. :no: We are talking about adding something totally unnecessary to what we allow to be sold for human consumption. The article states that the FDA is basing this on a 5 year study but omits how many actual animals were tested. What with a high rate of death and deformity in cloned animals, I tend to wonder about what anomalies might exist that we do not know about (because they have not shown up in tests so far). Do we want to find out years from now that there is a negative impact from the consumption of milk & meat from clones? :Worried:

In addition it is mentioned that separate labeling of food from cloned animals is unnecessary. I think this is a way to avoid responsibility for any negative impact (if there is one) because it would not be easily traceable to the source.

[Pamelajo]

I don't like the idea of them not having to label it. It takes away our choice. Let's hope Canada decides to pass on this one.

[Melody]

Canada is usually more careful as a rule, but its also known for pulling some pretty senseless stunts.

I simply don't see the necessity so why bother? Possible risk and no gain.... what's the point? So the farmers can make more off one pig? Selectively breed like the rest of us then.

[Melody]

Canada is looking into it. I think we should make our feelings known about it, or we'll just wake up to an approval. For now it is prohibited. They did say that if they also conclude that there is no difference, they won't require labelling either.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/12/29/cloning-canada.html

[CACAdmin]

Canada is looking into it. I think we should make our feelings known about it, or we'll just wake up to an approval. For now it is prohibited. They did say that if they also conclude that there is no difference, they won't require labelling either.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/12/29/cloning-canada.html

I agree. I think we need to contact Health Canada about this, state our concerns and inquire if they at least are considering public consultation on this. We just have to find the best person there to contact to ensure we are heard, whether it be this William Yan who apparently is the spokesperson, or someone else.

[Soggybottom]

I'm with you guys on this one. I may have an instinctually negative attitude toward this type of thing, but I'm betting the product is only superior in it's ability to extract profit from the supply chain, as opposed to providing some benefit to the consumer.

Dolly the sheep was deemed successful after the first 270 attempts resulted in stillborn or deformed fetuses. She lived 6 years instead of the 11-16 usual for sheep. She had premature aging, arthritis and would have died of lung disease had she not been euthanized. Tasty.

Another disturbing idea in the US is the NAIS or National Animal Identification System. In its fully implemented form I believe it requires all food animals to be implanted with RFID chips and registered with the government. All farm premises must also be registered with exact location and animal numbers. Putting aside the spooky big brother feel, many people feel it is an attempt to take food production away from small producers and put it in the hands of the big agri-corps who would be better able to enact the measures. I find it wrong on a basic freedom level. If I want to raise a chicken and eat it myself in private, I should be allowed to without reporting to some bureaucrat.

[Melody]

It all comes back to letting our Governments run us instead of being our representatives. They do what they want, not what the people want. It won't change until we stop letting them play king of sheep mountain ;) . They ARE outnumbered, after all....lol.

I usually keep my activist activities to local levels & I'm not exactly into 'campaigns' as it were, so who do we write to? We could post a petition I suppose.