According to research group Clear Seas Research, nearly 78% of consumers are unsure about the safety of cloned food. In an online poll conducted just this past January, nearly two-thirds of respondents suggested they would need more information before feeling comfortable about cloned food on their plates.
“These findings indicate that processors need to supply consumers with more information,” says Sarah Corp, executive director of Clear Seas. “There are a lot of misperceptions about what cloning is and information is the only thing that will alleviate the fear and uncertainty surrounding this topic.”
While 15.7% of respondents to the survey believed that cloned food is safe, I’m surprised it would be suggested that further information would ‘alleviate the fear and uncertainty’ surrounding cloned food stuffs. According to the FDA report, however, cloning isn’t perfect.
The FDA report does raise some concerns about cloned animals immediately after birth. Many of the young animals are susceptible to under-developed respiratory and cardiovascular systems, it said.
But as a food safety issue, the agency said the risk was small. “Given that live neonatal clones are unlikely to enter the food supply, they pose an extremely limited risk for consumption as food,” the document said.
So we’re only in trouble should a clone accidentally end up at the center of a meat recall.
The Los Angeles Times says not to expect cloned dishes in your local diner anytime soon either.
It is going to take years to get into the food chain, and many retailers are already dead-set against it.
Hi, Jennifer
Cloned food should be for cloned people.
When I think of “cloned’ food, I think of Dolly the sheep (the first cloned animal), and I wonder if soon all of our meat will taste the same.
Weird wording in that poll: “cloned food”? That’s like saying “artificially inseminated food.” There’s no such thing, but yuck! I think what the polling company meant to say (unless they were trying to produce a negative result) is “food from cloned animals.”
Jennifer, how can you be surprised that when people learn more about cloning they’re less afraid of it? Where do you think people’s ideas about cloning come from in the first place — scientific journals, or the movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Lucas? I don’t think it’s scientific journals!
Ask the average person whether cloned cows are born as calves or come full-grown out of machines. Ask him whether a cloned cow is 100% real cow or only partially real cow. Ask him whether a cloned cow has any reproductive organs. Ask him whether a cloned cow has the memories of its predecessor. You’ll be amazed by the answers you get, assuming you know the correct answers yourself. It’s no wonder people are freaked out!