American Anti-Vivisection Society - Center for Food Safety - Consumer Federation of America - Consumers Union - Farm Sanctuary - Food & Water Watch - Humane Society of the United States

December 18, 2007- This holiday season, people have more to fear than the dreaded fruitcake.  Advocacy and watchdog groups are putting consumers on alert. The meat and dairy products they buy may soon come from cloned animals, and they will not even know it.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its analysis on cloning, which means that an announcement could come by the end of this month that animals can be cloned and sold for food, and without labels.

"Surveys have repeatedly shown that consumers are wary of food from cloned animals," said Chris Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America. "We need a much more comprehensive assessment of the potential implications of allowing food from cloned animals into the food supply." 

The impacts on U.S. agriculture, trade, and the integrity of the food supply are still largely unknown.  Unlabeled products from cloned animals in the food supply could have significant repercussions.

The U.S. Congress shares the groups' concerns.  Just last week, the Senate passed the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) with a provision introduced by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) requiring the FDA to delay its decision on cloned animals until additional studies can be completed by the USDA and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).  The House-Senate conference is expected to decide on the provisions of the final Farm Bill in early 2008. 

"With Friday's passage of the Farm Bill, the Senate has sent the FDA an unequivocal message; the public wants more information before clones are released into the food supply," said Center for Food Safety Legal Director Joe Mendelson.  "The prudent approach outlined in the Mikulski-Specter Amendment calls for thorough and peer reviewed testing before any green light is given to cloned food.  American consumers deserve no less than the best recommendations based on the most exhaustive scientific review."

"The FDA risk assessment ignored the fact that most clones never make it to adulthood because they die in gestation or shortly after birth, and also failed to consider whether clones might need more drug treatments," said Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist, Consumers Union.  "We agree with the Senate that the NAS should take another look at the safety questions."