Business Week reports on how the employees at Cyagra, a Pennsylvania biotech company, every Friday for the past year “have been eating their way through the thousands of pounds of beef left over from the 11 clones that the company raised and slaughtered for a cloned-meat study.”
The general consensus: the burgers are delicious.
However, this verdict won’t reassure those who have scientific or ethical concerns about the consumption of food that can be traced back to cloned animals. While proponents believe that cloning will eventually yield herds that are healthier and more robust, there is a sizable percentage of the population that finds the concept to be repugnant. Now is the time for both sides to weigh in, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that food and milk from cloned animals is safe to consume, and has launched a period for public comment before issuing final regulations.
“Science is only part of the issue with cloned foods,” Business Week writes. “Perception may be even more important. The workers at Cyagra started up their Friday lunches out of a simple desire not to let good food go to waste. But what they're doing with their cloned beef may, in its own small way, have an effect on how cloned foods are perceived more broadly.”
"It's not a big deal," Steve Mower, the company’s director of marketing, tells the magazine. "I've eaten cloned beef for a year and a half. It's scientifically proven to be safe."
The general consensus: the burgers are delicious.
However, this verdict won’t reassure those who have scientific or ethical concerns about the consumption of food that can be traced back to cloned animals. While proponents believe that cloning will eventually yield herds that are healthier and more robust, there is a sizable percentage of the population that finds the concept to be repugnant. Now is the time for both sides to weigh in, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that food and milk from cloned animals is safe to consume, and has launched a period for public comment before issuing final regulations.
“Science is only part of the issue with cloned foods,” Business Week writes. “Perception may be even more important. The workers at Cyagra started up their Friday lunches out of a simple desire not to let good food go to waste. But what they're doing with their cloned beef may, in its own small way, have an effect on how cloned foods are perceived more broadly.”
"It's not a big deal," Steve Mower, the company’s director of marketing, tells the magazine. "I've eaten cloned beef for a year and a half. It's scientifically proven to be safe."
- KC's View:
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The only thing that worries us about cloned food is the fact that the government seems to think it is okay…aside from that, we think that anything that creates a more plentiful food supply is a good thing. How many people on this planet go to bed hungry every night? If this problem can be solved – and we grant you that solving it will take a lot more than cloning cows – then the use of these kinds of scientific techniques seems completely appropriate.
