Will People Eat Cloned Meat?

Cloned meat has been a heated subject in America. On January 15, 2008, the FDA released a statement saying that cloned meat is safe to eat. The FDA's statement on cloned meat has brought the issue to a boil. Cloned meat and milk are now approved for sale on the market, but there are no requirements stating that products derived from cloned meat will be specially labeled. Consumers are unsure if organic products will be allowed to contain cloned products.

Some people are against cloned meat. Some people are not convinced that cloned meat is safe. Many don't believe there is a valid need for cloned meat. Surveys have been done that show a significant amount of people refuse to eat cloned meat. Will people turn vegan to avoid consuming cloned meat and products derived from cloned animals? Will people insist cloned products be specially labeled? What will happen?

Let's take a look at the issues regarding cloned meat. What are scientists saying? What are people saying?

Why Produce Cloned Meat

The idea behind cloned meat, is to produce higher quality meat. With cloning, scientists can take ideal animals and clone them for the meat industry. In addition, animals can be cloned that will require less feed in order to produce the same amount of meat.

Cloning animals is expensive. People will most likely not be eating the cloned animals themselves, but the cloned animal's offspring. Scientists and the FDA claim that eating meat and milk products from cloned animals proposes no risk to those who eat it.

There are approximately six hundred cloned animals in the United States at this time. These cloned animals will most likely be used for breeding.

Safety Concerns of Cloned Meat

One of the big safety concerns of cloned meat is the unknown. Some of the cloned animals come out fine. Others do not. Some cloned animals die young and some tend to be sickly. Some cloned animals die before they are even born. What about the cloned animals that are born and grow up appearing normal? Can we be sure that they are indeed normal? Some scientists are concerned that we simply do not know what abnormalities to look for. There is concern that these abnormalities could pose a health risk to people who eat them. There is also concern that undetected abnormalities in cloned animals could pose a health risk to the animals themselves by leaving them susceptible to disease.

Livescience.com has a great article about some of the safety concerns of cloned meat and milk.

Animal Cruelty

Animal rights activist's point out that cloned animals are still living creatures. The cloned animals and the offspring of the cloned animals would still undergo the same treatment that non-cloned animals go through.

Friends of Animals, an animal rights group that is against cloned meat. They are not alone in their stance against cloned meat. Many animal rights groups consider cloned animals to be inhumane due to the fact that many cloned animals suffer from birth defects and diseases. According to animal rights groups, the high incidents of cloned animals with health problems is a source of needless animal cruelty and suffering.

Surveys of Consumers

According to The International Food Information Council, fifty percent of Americans are against cloned meat. A Google search on the internet on "Who would eat cloned meat?" brings back many results of consumers who say they would not eat cloned meat.

The International Food Information Council and many scientists believe that consumers will accept cloned meat once they are more educated on the process of cloning and the safety of cloned meat.

Will Cloned Meat Become Accepted?

No one knows the future, but my guess is that the issue of cloned meat is going to continue to be a heated topic for quite sometime. I have read heard many people vow that they will become vegan if cloned meat is not labeled. I have my doubts that every person will stick to the their vow. I do think that some people will get used to the idea of cloned meat and will eat it without much of a thought. I do not think that cloned meat will ever be fully accepted. There is a large group of consumers that are animal rights activists and organic activists. Animal rights activists will never accept cloned meats. Most organic activists do not believe in un-natural alterations to food and will not accept cloned meat.

Cloned meat sounds like something from a science fiction novel, but never the less it is here. Like it or not, it has become a reality.

Sources:
www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01776.html
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-080113meat-story,1,7659931.story
www.livescience.com/health/080109-animal-cloning.html
www.wate.com/Global/story.asp
www.friendsofanimals.org/programs/animal-rights/Mad_Science.htm
www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/EU-Considers-Allowing-Cloned-Meat--Milk-on-Market-19053-2/
www.ific.org/food/biotechnology/index.cfm