FDA: Clones Are OK

A soon to be released final risk assessment from the FDA will clear the way for the selling of cloned meat and dairy products. According to the report there is no danger from human consumption. The FDA says they don't expect cloned food to be labeled, but may allow non-cloned food to be labeled as such.

Finally, there was the overarching problem of deciding which measures would best predict whether the food was safe. Most puzzling was whether to take into account the subtle alterations in gene activity, called epigenetic changes, that are common in clones as a result of having just one parent.

In the end, facing the reality that epigenetics have never been a factor in assessing the wholesomeness of food, agency scientists decided to use the same simple but effective standard used by farmers since the dawn of agriculture: If a farm animal appears in all respects to be healthy, then presume that food from that animal is safe to eat.