www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Here we go again. Yet another technology in its infancy is likely to be
introduced into the food supply, while industry remains cautious and
consumers divided, January 2007
by George Reynolds.

The issue over cloned meat is not one of health and safety ? the
scientific evidence examined by US and EU regulators indicates a cloned cow
is no different from regular meat.

Instead the issue the industry must now face is whether it wants to test
consumers' acceptance of such a new technology, given the current concerns ?
and controversy -- over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Cloning may be safe and ultimately offer future benefit to the industry, but
the controversy surrounding the entire issue demands that individuals must
be allowed to make the choice of whether they want to buy products
containing such foods.

This is why there is a strong case to be made that food industry
organisations and politicians must now take immediate action to require
labelling before the backlash grows.

Labelling and a programme of education would put an end to the fear factor
being stoked by media headlines declaring cloning is creating a "freak show"
on the farms ? which harkens back to the "Frankenstein" language that was
used to express distrust of GMOs.

One can already see the fault lines developing over the issue in the recent
actions taken by US and EU regulators ? a potential rift that could lead to
the same consumer confusion that has arisen over GMOs due to the conflict
between the two trading partners.

In the case of cloned meat, the US regulator has issued a consultation
proposing to allow the product into the food chain without the need for
labelling. In the EU, regulators from member countries have said cloned
meat ? while safe ? needs to go through its novel foods approval process,
again, in the same manner as GMOs.

And we know what happened to GMOs in Europe once the EU's food safety
regulator began giving positive opinions on individual products ? approvals
were blocked at the political level due to a consumer backlash.

The public is suspicious of cloned foods, because of the memories of past
heath scares, the feeling that technology is being shoved down their throats
without consultation, and a lack of understanding of the science involved.

An independent study in the US indicates that 60 per cent of Americans would
not knowingly eat cloned meat. A 2002 EU survey found that Europeans were
generally against any new foods that had been produced through new
scientific advances ? such as GMOs.

A new tactic is therefore needed by the food industry.

One could argue that the regulatory decision-making process begins and ends
on the single issue of whether food derived from clones and their progeny is
safe for public consumption.

Theoritically and in practice, this is done by examining the scientific
evidence and then making a risk-based assessement of the potential benefits
and harm.

But once the regulators have finished with their part, the decision on
actually introducing cloned food then enters the realm of politics, market
economics and ethics.

Railroading a cattle-train of clones into the food supply will simply serve
to heighten fears and potentially cause a backlash against the food
industry.

[www.nutraingredients.com]