Eating Cloned Animals?

[DiamondSCattleCo]

"Are we not going to be able to make use of improved technology anymore? Is everything bad? I do not know if agriculture and food production can go back to the 1940s or not."

I wasn't arguing the benefits of improved technology, but rather science's lamentable tendency to rush things out the door without really knowing whether they could be harmful to the environment or the people who use the product. I argue, and with good reason, that many "advances" have been rushed out the door and fast tracked through government approval only to find out later that they are damaging.

I won't trust any "scientist" or "sound science" that places dollars before safety, and there are far more of those types around than there are honest ones.

As far as AI, versus cloning, do AI'ed animals have lower life expectancy than their natural counterparts? No, they do not. The natural cycle is helped along by mating one natural entity (sperm) with another (egg). Cloning isn't even remotely close. And why, f_s, did you ignore my question about the issues surrounding cloned animals? Why do they exhibit shortened life spans? Why is their disease resistance lower? Obviously, the entities that science is creating do NOT exactly match those produced by nature.

Rod

[Willowcreek]

Already a great deal of screaming about the USDA/FDA decisions on cloned beef- and the fact that it will be unlabeled and unable to discern from all other beef...That and the fact that Europe too is screaming about it- already has Congressmen offering up legislation to make it law that it has to be segregated and can not be sold unless labeled as coming from a cloned animal or offspring...

And, like I said in the other thread, thanks to the Chinese, we now live in a period where consumers are asking for labeling and more information on their food products- and I look for this type of law to pass- especially now that we are in an election year- and no politician wants to appear anticonsumer (voter)......

[Willowcreek]

USDA yesterday called for a voluntary hold on the slaughter of all cloned animals or their offspring- until they can get a handle on some type of labeling...

They were catching extreme heat from the politicians-- and are starting to reallize they better quit acting so arrogant and uncaring- as they are very likely going to have to work with the Democrat party that will have control of their purse strings.....

[cakadu]

There is ample evidence about the relative importance of including the consumer in our food production/processing choices - in other words the value chain.

Ottawa Citizen
Sylvain Charlebois
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=5809fb64-3489-487b-aa07-86439ac99472&p=2
When it comes to food labelling and health risks, the Canadian track record implies that we ought to be more vigilant about food science. Consumers are becoming more aware of the food they eat and the facts concerning its ingredients and sources. Markets are more fragmented than ever before and consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their food choices. This is evinced by recent polls suggesting increases in purchases of organic foods and consumer concern about food safety when making purchasing decisions.
Cloning animals for food consumption is not just about factual risks and leveraging an industry's capacity to produce faster and better food. It is also about making the right decisions based on how consumers perceive the risk of eating cloned products.
Consumer welfare should remain the decisive focus of any new policy that introduces a new food product to the market.

We ignore the consumer at our own peril.