January 16, 2008

US to slaughter only a few cloned cattle for meat

The USDA reported that there are very few cloned cattle in the US and most of those will not be slaughtered for meat.

USDA undersecretary Bruce Knight said Tuesday that there are currently only about 600 animal clones in the US, and most of them are breeding animals, so few clones will ever arrive in the marketplace.

The USDA said it supports the Food and Drug Administration's decision, announced on Tuesday, saying that meat and milk from cloned cattle are safe for human consumption.

Nevertheless, Knight said the USDA was calling on cloned animal producers to keep meat and milk from the animals off the market.

Knight explained that the USDA has encouraged technology providers to maintain their voluntary moratorium on sending milk and meat from animal clones into the food supply during this transition time.

The USDA added that, together with the FDA, it will conduct a study to check whether domestic production of meat and milk from cloned animals will hurt US exports.