FDA set to OK food from cloned animals TODAY (28/12/2006)

[nosmokes]

I don't know about y'all, but next to the war and the stolen elections, this is about the most outrageous thing i believe they have foisted upon us. and i am outraged. for all the good it does. and i'll betcha dollars to donut's there ain't gonna be any milk or meat from cloned animals on the tables of the members of the FDA or anyone else that's part of shrubco.-nosmokes
--###--


original-gm watch

FDA set to OK food from cloned animals TODAY (28/12/2006)


GM WATCH COMMENT: According to this Associated Press piece, the US government is expected to declare today that cloned animals are safe to go into the human food supply.

There has, of course, been no public debate about whether US citizens, let alone the recipients of US exports, wish to consume milk and meat from cloned animals.

And this isn't just an issue of democratic deficit.

A spokesman for the Biotechnology Industry Organization is quoted in the article as saying, "We clone an animal because we want a genetic twin of that animal. It's not a genetically engineered animal; no genes have been changed or moved or deleted."

But we know clones are very far indeed from perfect copies and that all clones are, in one way or another, defective with multiple flaws embedded in their genomes. Rudolf Jaenisch, a geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimates that something like 4-5% of the genes in a cloned animal's genome are expressed incorrectly.

And these genetic defects can have tangible results - some subtle and hard to reckon but others all too clear. Some clones have been born with incomplete body walls or with abnormalities in their hearts, kidneys or brain function, or have suffered problems like "adult clone sudden death syndrome" and premature ageing.

~snip~
.
.
.

complete article, including link to an AP report here

[NashVegas]

1. This & GM/GE Foods Could Lead to Catastrophe for the Human Race, IMO

Putting the means of producing food and livestock into the hands of a few corporations (as opposed to tens, hundreds of thousands, millions of growers & producers) is begging for trouble.

[Avalux]

2. The FDA has put forth a draft; has not made a final decision.

I've read a lot of news stories on this subject today that are inaccurate. I am not defending the FDA, but I am disturbed by the amount of misinformation being circulated about this matter. Please go here to read the entire draft proposal concerning cloned animals:

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01541.html

The FDA is also taking public opinions until April 2007. Email them or write to them - they need to hear from you:

FDA is seeking comments from the public on the three documents for the next 90 days. To submit electronic comments on the three documents, visit http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/commentdocket.cfm?AGENCY=FDA. Written comments may be sent to: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD, 20852. Comments must be received by Apr. 2, 2007 and should include the docket number 2003N-0573.

For more information, visit http://www.fda.gov/cvm/CloneRiskAssessment.htm.

[dweller]

7. kick for comments from the public part...

:kick:

this deserves a thread of its own.

dp

[peacebird]

3. Is organic still going to be "clean"? Can free range and organic folks market as NON-cloned?

I know the dairy industry fought tooth and nail to keep small organic farms and ice cream companies from labelling as "No rBGH".....

[nosmokes]

4. good question.

since the NOSB is now stacked w/ 12 of 15 seats having significant ties to industrial agricultural interests one can only guess at this stage. i certainly wouldn't put it past the faux organic dairies, horizon, dean, aurora and their brethren who while the herds *may* (or may not) technically meet the definition of orgaanic, may never see a blade of grass their entire lives, to market cloned milk as organic.

otherwise my advice is the same. if you don't have a local dairy that's organic, organic valley is a co-op of family dairies that is trustworthy. for everything else, support your local farmer!

join a CSA and if they don't also raise some meat and poultry they can steer you in the right direction. and write your congress critters and tell them we want real consumer representation and real organic farmer representation on the NOSB, not Kraft, not ADM,not general mills. we want the organic label to mean organic, not some organic, or mostly organic or 95% organic, but completely organic.

Buylocal
Buy organic
Buy free trade

[Cleita]

5. The quality of the meat isn't the problem for me.

We eat cloned animals all the time. They are called twins or members of the same litter.

My problem is why bother? We have a perfectly reliable way of creating new livestock that mother nature provided us with. It seems to me that the process would be more expensive and unnecessary in the long run, a totally unproductive way of doing this.

So I agree this is more a ruse by factory farms to maybe patent their product enabling them to corner the market and force every other producer out of the business.

[TahitiNut]

6. (deleted)

(nevermind)