DaryLLL
11-02-2003, 09:05 AM
Would you? Ick.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/31/clone.food.ap/index.html
The FDA hasn't yet completed writing the 300-page scientific review on which the summary is based, even though the agency is asking its scientific advisers to critique the risk assessment next week. How, critics wonder, can anyone be confident of the FDA's review of such an important matter on the basis of 11 pages of vague information?
In addition, the FDA hasn't yet considered the societal reaction to using cloned animals for food, something the National Research Council specifically urged addressing.
Nor is it clear that the FDA has the legal authority to stop a cloner emboldened by these preliminary findings from breaking the moratorium and selling cloned products, she said.
"They seem to be shockingly obtuse when it comes to the fact that this ... makes people very uncomfortable," she said.
Consumer reaction could prove key to whether food producers want to invest in cloning technology or not. Foods that are genetically modified face trade barriers overseas despite FDA assurances that those now sold are safe. While cloning means a genetic copy, not genetic modification, public understanding of biotechnology is sketchy.
"If these products are safe, is the consumer confident in that?" asked Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/31/clone.food.ap/index.html
The FDA hasn't yet completed writing the 300-page scientific review on which the summary is based, even though the agency is asking its scientific advisers to critique the risk assessment next week. How, critics wonder, can anyone be confident of the FDA's review of such an important matter on the basis of 11 pages of vague information?
In addition, the FDA hasn't yet considered the societal reaction to using cloned animals for food, something the National Research Council specifically urged addressing.
Nor is it clear that the FDA has the legal authority to stop a cloner emboldened by these preliminary findings from breaking the moratorium and selling cloned products, she said.
"They seem to be shockingly obtuse when it comes to the fact that this ... makes people very uncomfortable," she said.
Consumer reaction could prove key to whether food producers want to invest in cloning technology or not. Foods that are genetically modified face trade barriers overseas despite FDA assurances that those now sold are safe. While cloning means a genetic copy, not genetic modification, public understanding of biotechnology is sketchy.
"If these products are safe, is the consumer confident in that?" asked Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.