This week the European Food Safety Authority launched its draft on food from cloned animals, opening it for public comment. They have also posted their draft opinion on the safety of food from cloned animals.
Today, the Washington Post carries an article stating that the FDA is also about to release a hefty report on the safety of food from cloned animals weighing in at 968 pages that will certainly have plop factor, a move already condemned by consumer groups such as the Center for Food Safety.
Last week I wrote a brief Issues Analysis of the cloned food issue.
While there is every indication that the potential for food to be on the table that is cloned is probably not imminent and may take many years, and may not, in fact, be feasible, it is one more factor that will make consumers wary in the current risk averse environment. It goes to the point, made in Eye on FDA’s podcast with Dr. David Acheson at the FDA, that today’s issues associated with food safety go well beyond the issue of imports.
This is one debate, like the irradiation of foods and use of growth hormones in cattle, that one can expect to see continue for many years to come and where the science is discussed has moved faster than the social context for the debate.
