Manataka
American Indian Council
Are You Eating Cloned Meat?
(NaturalNews) The major cattle cloning
companies in the United States have admitted that they have not bothered to try
and keep meat from the offspring of clones out of the U.S. food supply, in spite
of a request by the FDA several years ago.
"This is a fairy tale that this technology is not being used and is not already
in the food chain," said Donald Coover, who owns a specialty cattle semen
business. "Anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn't know what they're
talking about, or they're not being honest."
Coover admitted that for several years, he has been openly selling semen from
cloned bulls. He is sure, he added, that others are doing the same.
The revelation came as the FDA approved cloned beef as safe for human
consumption but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asked farmers to keep
it out of the food supply anyway.
The USDA's primary concern is that if cloned beef enters the U.S. food supply,
other countries might refuse to purchase beef from the United States. Similar
problems have emerged in the past with genetically modified U.S. crops being
rejected, particularly in Europe but also in parts of Africa, Asia and the
Americas. Insiders from agencies such as the USDA and Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative noted that a product that no other country wants to buy might do
the United States more harm than good.
The USDA's request for a moratorium on cloned beef is meant to give time for "an
acceptance process" that will be needed "given the emotional nature of this
issue."
A survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation found that 22
percent of U.S. residents surveyed had a favorable impression of cloned meat in
2007, as opposed to 16 percent in 2006. Approximately 50 percent had a negative
impression of such food.
The FDA has rejected calls to require the labeling of food produced from cloned
animals.
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