The company, it seemed, was the first to produce a range of milk products from cloned cows and had plans to produce meat products as well. Quite an impressive technological feat and yet still somewhat disconcerting to the average consumer.
Which is why we thought there had to be more to this story. And apparently there was. As it turns out, Cyclone is not a real company. The website was an April Fools’ Day hoax crafted by Ben and Jerry’s to bring attention to a controversial decision the FDA made in January 2008 approving meat and milk from cloned animals into the food supply. According to their findings, food products from cloned cattle, swine, or goats are safe for human consumption. The safety of sheep’s meat and milk and food from newborn cattle was deemed inconclusive.
Considering the extreme cost and high failure rate of cloning, this may not be something consumers have to worry about in the near future (although their have been allegations of cloned animals already being present in the food supply). However, once the technology is refined, consumers may never know that the meat they are eating or the milk they are drinking actually comes from cloned animals. Why? The FDA does not require labeling of cloned food products.
Ben and Jerry’s proposes a solution in the form of a national clone tracking system. This would not only label food as cloned, but it would also track cloned animals and their non-clone offspring. The company’s website provides a link to a petition that will be presented to Congress proposing this tracking system.
http://www.cyclonedairy.com
http://www.benjerry.com/activism/inside-the-pint/more-about-milk/cow-cloning/
http://ga3.org/campaign/CloneTracking
http://ecocentricsustainabilityconsulting.com/blog/
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