By Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citing public health, ethical and animal cruelty concerns, consumer and religious groups on Thursday urged federal regulators to issue a moratorium on the introduction of food made from cloned animals.
In a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Food Safety, the Humane Society of the United States and others said there is still too much uncertainty over the safety of food from cloned animals.
"Cloning is completely unnecessary and will increase animal cruelty in food production, yet the industry wants to test their cloned foods on the American public," said Joseph Mendelson, legal Director for the Center for Food Safety.
The advocacy groups want FDA to require health and environmental reviews before allowing food from cloned animals to be sold. A blue ribbon panel also should be established to review the ethical issues tied to animal cloning.
Additionally, they asked the agency to regulate cloned animals as "new animal drugs," using the argument that processors are making changes that affect the body of the animal.
An FDA spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
At present, selling food made from cloned animals is not approved in the United States.
The FDA in October 2003 issued a draft risk assessment saying food from cloned animals and their offspring was as safe as conventional food. But an FDA panel later urged more research into the new technology, delaying a final decision which has yet to be made.
Advocates of livestock cloning say it will improve the quality of steaks and dairy products by propagating disease-resistant animals who can produce lean and tender meat or make more milk.
"Cloning is genetic duplication, not genetic modifications," said Mark Walton, president of Viagen Inc., a Texas-based company that is working with cloned cattle, pigs and horses. "That's a point that many consumers, regulators have actually been confused about," he said.
Cloning animals involves taking the nuclei of cells from adults and fusing them into other egg cells that are implanted into a surrogate mother. Hundreds of livestock animals already have been cloned, but producers and the nascent industry have voluntarily agreed not to sell any foods from cloned animals until the FDA makes its decision.
One of the most famous cloned animals, Dolly the sheep, was born in 1996. She was later euthanized at the age of 8 because of a degenerative lung condition.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citing public health, ethical and animal cruelty concerns, consumer and religious groups on Thursday urged federal regulators to issue a moratorium on the introduction of food made from cloned animals.
In a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Food Safety, the Humane Society of the United States and others said there is still too much uncertainty over the safety of food from cloned animals.
"Cloning is completely unnecessary and will increase animal cruelty in food production, yet the industry wants to test their cloned foods on the American public," said Joseph Mendelson, legal Director for the Center for Food Safety.
The advocacy groups want FDA to require health and environmental reviews before allowing food from cloned animals to be sold. A blue ribbon panel also should be established to review the ethical issues tied to animal cloning.
Additionally, they asked the agency to regulate cloned animals as "new animal drugs," using the argument that processors are making changes that affect the body of the animal.
An FDA spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
At present, selling food made from cloned animals is not approved in the United States.
The FDA in October 2003 issued a draft risk assessment saying food from cloned animals and their offspring was as safe as conventional food. But an FDA panel later urged more research into the new technology, delaying a final decision which has yet to be made.
Advocates of livestock cloning say it will improve the quality of steaks and dairy products by propagating disease-resistant animals who can produce lean and tender meat or make more milk.
"Cloning is genetic duplication, not genetic modifications," said Mark Walton, president of Viagen Inc., a Texas-based company that is working with cloned cattle, pigs and horses. "That's a point that many consumers, regulators have actually been confused about," he said.
Cloning animals involves taking the nuclei of cells from adults and fusing them into other egg cells that are implanted into a surrogate mother. Hundreds of livestock animals already have been cloned, but producers and the nascent industry have voluntarily agreed not to sell any foods from cloned animals until the FDA makes its decision.
One of the most famous cloned animals, Dolly the sheep, was born in 1996. She was later euthanized at the age of 8 because of a degenerative lung condition.
