Cloned Animals Safe to Eat, Says FDA

Jan. 15, 2008 -- Meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as that from their counterparts bred the old-fashioned way, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

The decision removes the last U.S. regulatory hurdle to marketing products from cloned cows, pigs and goats, and puts the FDA in concert with recent safety assessments from European food regulators and several other nations.

"The data show that healthy adult clones are virtually indistinguishable" from their counterparts, concludes FDA's 900-plus page safety report.

But for economic reasons, it will be years before many foods from cloned animals reach store shelves. At $10,000 to $20,000 per animal, they're a lot more expensive than ordinary cows. That means producers likely will us clones' offspring for meat, not the clones themselves.

In addition, several large food companies -- including dairy giant Dean Foods Co. and Hormel Foods Corp. -- have said they have no plans to sell milk or meat from cloned animals, because of consumer anxiety about the technology.

With FDA's ruling, "If you ask what's for dinner, it means just about anything you can cook up in a laboratory," said Carol Tucker-Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America, who pledged to push for more food producers to shun cloned animals.

The two main U.S. cloning companies, Viagen Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics, already have produced more than 600 cloned animals for U.S. breeders, including copies of prize-winning cows and rodeo bulls.

"We certainly are pleased," said Trans Ova President David Faber, who noted that previous reports by the National Academy of Sciences and others have reached the same conclusion.

"Our farmer and rancher clients are pleased because it provided them with another reproductive tool," he added.

Food producers have voluntarily withheld cloned animals from the market pending FDA's decision, and it wasn't immediately clear Tuesday if that moratorium was ending immediately -- or if other government agencies must weigh in first.