USDA Backs FDA Safety Findings on Animal Cloning

16/01/08 Bruce Knight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said Tuesday the USDA "fully supports and agrees with" the Food and Drug Administration's finding that meat and products from cloned animals present no safety concerns. "USDA will join with technology providers, producers, processors, retailers and domestic and international customers to facilitate the marketing of meat and milk from clones," Knight said in a statement. "We'll be working closely with stakeholders to ensure a smooth and seamless transition into the marketplace for these products." The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine Tuesday issued a report stating edible products from healthy bovine, porcine, sheep or goat clones "pose no additional food consumption risks relative to corresponding products from contemporary conventional comparators." The CVM also found no additional risk from the offspring of clones compared with animals that were not cloned.

USDA's Knight said there are currently about 600 animal clones in the U.S.

Since most of them are breeding animals, few clones will ever arrive in the marketplace, he noted, adding that he has encouraged technology providers to maintain their voluntary moratorium on sending milk and meat from animal clones into the food supply during the transition.

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