WASHINGTON (January 15, 2008) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released a report concluding that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring pose no public health threat. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would ask producers of clones to continue to abide by a “voluntary moratorium” and keep their products off the market.

Below is a statement by Margaret Mellon, Director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists:

“The administration is thankfully following the will of Congress, which urged that the moratorium continue until agencies can further study the effects cloned food could have on human health and trade.

“Animal cloning is a controversial technology with few, if any, benefits to consumers. Most cloned animals have severe defects and are more likely to die at an early age than ordinary farm animals. Although successful clones may appear normal, the possibility remains that some may harbor subtle genetic defects that could impair their health or make them unsafe for consumption. The FDA should have required that cloned products be labeled as such and kept them off the market at least until it established a mandatory tracking system to allow retailers to avoid purchasing the products.

“The agency's risk assessment is long on assumptions and short on hard data. It fails to address ethical issues associated with cloning, including the role of animal cloning as a steppingstone to human cloning.

“Nor does the risk assessment resolve trade concerns revolving around this controversial technology. Other countries have more rigorous regulatory systems and take ethical concerns into account. We can afford the time to do additional studies.”