In March, negotiations over Novel Food Regulations in the European Union (EU) to ban the use of cloned animals for food broke down due to a lack of agreement between EU member states and the European Parliament. The Parliament sought to prohibit meat from both cloned animals and their offspring, while governments from member states argued for a ban only on the cloned animals themselves.
After three years of negotiations, a compromise was proposed to merely require labeling of meat from cloned animals or their offspring, but member states asserted they could only consent to such labels for beef. This is due to the fact that beef is already heavily labeled and tracked due to previous ‘mad cow’ scares. As a result, the European Parliament negotiators declared ‘no deal!’
European governments and the European Commission have repeatedly asserted that scientific research has demonstrated that there is no difference between consuming meat from cloned animals and regular animals. Despite this, many members of the European Parliament have expressed opposition to the practice on the basis of animal health and welfare.
Had the Novel Foods Regulation been approved, the European Union would have been the first in the world to explicitly prohibit the consumption of meat from cloned animals.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate the sale of milk or meat from the progeny of cloned animals, and does not require these foods to be labeled. Cloned food products have been part of the American food supply since 2008.
In the summer of 2010, the US consumer was made aware of the use of cloned meat in the US when The New York Times reported on the ‘Unauthorized Sale of Meat From Animal Bred From a Clone’ in Britain. This sparked debates over cloned meats in the UK and across Europe, while the US consumer remained largely unaware.
In 2006, the FDA approved the consumption of meat and dairy from cloned animals, claiming that they are indistinguishable from products from non-cloned animals. The FDA also ruled out any labeling scheme that would require companies to inform consumers when meat comes from a cloned animal.
The two major issues surrounding cloned meats are the lack of research and a question of ethics. Recent studies have found that genetic defects in clones could be passed down to their offspring. Data on cloned pigs’ offspring showed smaller litters, slower growth, 25% of progeny deaths, and an abnormality rate of 2.5 times that of normal pigs, raising serious questions about the safety of cloned meats.
The two major issues surrounding cloned meats are the lack of research and a question of ethics. The ethical issue can be argued, lack of research cannot. Recent studies have found that genetic defects in clones could be passed down to their offspring. The data on cloned pigs’ offspring showed smaller litters, slower growth, 25% of progeny deaths, and an abnormality rate of 2.5 times that of normal pigs.
Most clones die before birth or in the first few weeks of life. Cattle clones often suffer from ‘large-offspring syndrome’, wherein the fetus grows twice as large as normal, sometimes causing death for both the cow and calf. Surviving calves often can’t walk and are sicker than ordinary calves.
The EU has a stricter policy on cloned meat than the US. The EU follows the ‘precautionary principle’, which is a policy that restricts the use of products or food if they cannot be proven to be safe or healthy, even if no proof exists that they are harmful.
A 2008 Euro-barometer survey found that 58% of EU citizens think cloning for food production is ‘unjustified’, while 83% said foods from cloned animals should be labeled. 63% said that it was ‘unlikely’ they would buy such food if they saw from the label that it was cloned.
