<b>By KEVIN WALKER<br>
Michigan Correspondent</b> </p><p>

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that food from certain cloned animals and their offspring are completely safe for consumers.</p><p>
“After years of detailed study and analysis, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine and goats and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals,” said Randall Lutter, FDA deputy commissioner for policy.</p><p>
Lutter also said the agency is not recommending that meat and milk from cloned species other than cattle, swine and goats be introduced into the food supply at this time because of insufficient information about the safety of such food. For example, the agency doesn’t recommend that meat or milk from cloned sheep be available for consumers.</p><p>
The agency also issued three documents in concert with the announcement: a 900-page risk assessment, a risk management plan and a guidance for industry. These documents were originally released in December 2006. Since then, the risk assessment in particular has been updated to include new scientific information.
The agency will not require that food from cloned animals be labeled as such. According to Lutter, the agency doesn’t have the legal authority to require special labeling for foods that do not pose a safety risk to consumers. He also said consumers may buy food certified as organic if they want to avoid consuming food from cloned animals.</p><p>
Stephen Sundlof, another FDA official, said although food from cloned animals will not need to be so labeled, industry could place special labels on food products that are not from cloned animals as long as it can be documented to FDA’s satisfaction.</p><p>
The National Organic Standards Board has already decided it doesn’t want to have food from cloned animals under its “organic” umbrella, said Bruce Knight, USDA’s undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Knight went on to say that cloning “technology providers” will put into place a voluntary mechanism to keep track of cloned animals that are in the system, but there will be no requirement to track cloned animals or their offspring.</p><p>
He envisions a cooperative “partnership” between consumers, interest groups and cloning technology providers.</p><p>
“Given the emotional nature of this issue, it makes a great deal of sense to have as much transparency in the process as we can,” Knight said.</p><p>
The American Farm Bureau (AFB) issued a statement shortly after the FDA’s teleconference, praising its announcement.</p><p>
“Farm Bureau applauds today’s release by the Food and Drug Administration of the final risk assessment that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring are safe to eat,” said Bob Stallman, AFB president. “We support that determination, which is based on FDA’s extensive analysis of the technology and hundreds of independent studies. The technology will be used mainly for breeding purposes, and we expect very little food from cloned cattle, swine and goats to enter the marketplace.”</p><p>
The National Farmers Union (NFU) issued its own statement criticizing the FDA’s decision to lift the ban on food from cloned animals.</p><p>
“In the face of ever-increasing food safety concerns, it is troubling to see the FDA approval of products from cloned animals to be sold to the public, when questions surrounding the health risks, legal implications and ethical concerns remain unanswered. Furthermore, there is no data to suggest any consumer demand for such products,“ said NFU President Tom Buis.</p><p>
The USDA plans to participate with producers, processors, retailers and other stakeholders to facilitate the marketing of meat and milk from clones.</p><p>
Despite this, the USDA is asking cloning technology providers to continue a voluntary moratorium on introducing cloned animals into the food system, Knight said. The idea is to give the marketplace time to adapt to this new development. He also said more research needs to be done on the trade implications of introducing cloned animals into the market.</p><p>
Some environmental groups oppose the introduction of cloned animals into the food supply. For example, Friends of the Earth issued the following statement, which reads, in part: “The FDA has buckled to big biotech and agro-business despite more than 150,000 public comments opposing the lifting of the ban, and amendments to the federal farm bill and omnibus appropriations bill calling for more research before lifting the ban.”</p><p>
Friends of the Earth is also circulating a petition to urge grocery stores not to sell meat and milk from cloned animals.</p><p>
Sundlof, however, was optimistic about public acceptance of food from cloned animals. When prompted by a reporter to compare this issue to that of milk from cows injected with bovine growth hormone, Sundlof stated such milk has been accepted by the public, and that provided enough scientific information, the public will eventually accept food from cloned animals, as well.