November 26, 2007

Smithfield: no to cloned pork

Smithfield Foods, leading pork firm in the US, announced it would not produce pork from cloned animals as the technology is still too new.

The company's statement was lauded by The Center for Food Safety, a primary campaigner against cloning. Smithfield is now one of the number of companies that rejected the technology.

A recent survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), found that 50 percent of Americans disagree on cloning, while 28 percent remained neutral.

Another survey by Consumers Union found that 89 percent of Americans want food from cloned animals to be labeled.

Despite concerns raised by consumer groups and even industry, meat and milk from cloned animals is poised to soon enter the American food chain, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

FDA officials said it would likely make a decision on food from cloned animals by December 2007.

Smithfield said that even if FDA would confirm on the safety of food from cloned animals in the update of its risk assessment, Smithfield would not reconsider its position against the technology.