Survey finds food groups pledging to keep out clones

According to anti-GM consumer group the Center for Food Safety, 20 leading US-based food processors including Kraft Foods and Smithfield Foods are reported to have pledged not to use products sourced from cloned animals.

As debate rages on both sides of the Atlantic over the use and labelling of cloned animals in food manufacture, processors on both continents are becoming increasingly concerned about cloning, amidst fears of a potential consumer backlash.

However, the UK-based Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents a number of food manufacturers in the country, said it did not yet have a policy regarding the used of cloned foodstuffs.

Sending a message​

Lisa Bunin, campaigns coordinator for the Center for Food Safety, claimed that the survey sent a message to biotech firms that there may not be a market for cloned foods in the country.

"American consumers don't want to eat food from clones or their offspring, and these companies have realistically anticipated low market acceptance for this new and untested technology,”​ she stated.

Bunin said that General Mills in particular has highlighted ‘consumer acceptance’ of such products as a major concern over using ingredients from cloned sources in its goods.

The centre said that Kraft Foods echoed these concerns, stating that while risk assessors like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had not linked cloned foods to health concerns, it still had to take consumer opinion into consideration.

Other companies in support of the pledge include Gerber/Nestle, Campbell Soup Company, Gossner Foods, Ben & Jerry's, Amy's Kitchen, California Pizza Kitchen restaurants, Hain Celestial, Cloverland, Oberweis, Prairie, Byrne, Plainview, and Clover-Stornetta Dairies.

US-based retailers such as PCC Natural Markets, Albertsons, Supervalu, and Harris Teeter, are also said to be in support, claims the Center for Food Safety.

Risk assessed​

Despite the stance taken by these groups, cloned foods have not as yet been linked to health concerns, though research on the subject is seen as being ‘limited’.

Back in July, EFSA concluded that meat and dairy products from cloned pigs and cattle are probably safe for human consumption, as part of a scientific opinion on animal cloning.

The assessment was proposed by the European Commission in February 2007, and follows a public consultation on the draft opinion it published earlier this year.

The risk assessor said that it looked into existing data on the safety of cloned pigs and cattle; however, it warned that the data available was 'limited'. Most of the studies conducted to date have been of small sample size and there is little information on animals remaining alive for considerable periods.

Professor John Collins, chair of EFSA's Biohaz Panel, one of ten scientific panels that make up the regulator's Scientific Committee, said the premise that healthy meat comes from healthy animals informed the work of the Committee.

He said that based on the knowledge available there was no evidence to indicate that cloned meat and dairy goods were any different from conventional products.

However, Collins told FoodProductionDaily.com at the time that the panel strongly recommends that the health and welfare of clones should be monitored throughout both their production and natural life span to allow the current opinion to be updated in the light of future developments or new data.

The Committee, in its assessment, said there are significant welfare issues and health problems for surrogate mothers and clones that can be more frequent and severe than for conventionally bred animals.