Doppelganger Dairy?

It's official: the FDA has ruled that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption. So safe, in fact, that companies don't even need to label which of their products contain cloned materials. Wait, let's back up on that one.

The FDA required food manufacturers to label all products containing trans fatty acids in 2003. In 2005, they required soft drink manufacturers to be more specific in their labeling of sweeteners. But in 2008, they determined that there was no real reason people should be privy to their consumption of cloned animal products?!

I’m all for scientific advances and I think it’s probably a good thing that we’re making strides in genetic engineering, hopefully also in areas of interest to human health (you know, curing diseases, saving babies, all that stuff). But I’m also all for freedom of information and consumer rights, and the fact that these liberties have taken a big hit in the name of “progress” doesn’t sit well with me.

The ruling also smacks of cloning companies like Viagen and Trans Ova Genetics being tucked snuggly in the pocket of our government, which is disturbing, to say the very, very least. Why not give consumers the ability to choose what they’re eating? Who, but those companies, stands to suffer if the public is informed? Who is our government really protecting with this ruling?

To read more on the subject and find out what you can do to take a stand, visit the Center for Food Safety. Also, check out this post by someone who's all too familiar with the dirty dealings of the FDA.