031049 Report on Cloned Meat Due Soon

Washington - The Food and Drug Administration was expected to publish a preliminary report this week on whether meat and milk products from cloned animals are safe and can be sold in the United States, industry experts said Thursday.

Joe Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, said the FDA would publish by Friday a draft risk assessment on cloned animal products, with a final policy decision expected next year. Three other industry experts also said the report would be issued this week.

FDA officials were not immediately available for comment.

The industry, with less than a dozen companies including ViaGen Inc. — owned by Exeter Life Sciences — and Cyagra, was eagerly awaiting the FDA's decision because some companies have cloned cattle and milk products ready for market.

Lisa Dry, spokeswoman for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said some of these companies have had difficulty raising funds from investors because of uncertainty surrounding the issue.

Cloned or genetically identical animals such as cattle, hogs, and chickens can be bred to provide more milk and eggs than animals that are naturally reproduced. Researchers can also enhance the nutritional value of food and lower cholesterol in eggs and meat from cloned animals.

Biotech companies clone animals by taking the nuclei of cells from adults and fusing them into other egg cells from which the nuclei have been extracted. Hundreds of cattle and hogs have already been cloned for food companies to sell.

Smithfield Foods, the top U.S. pork producer, has shown an interest in selling meat from cloned animals and has a technology development contract with Texas-based ViaGen.

Industry sources said they expect the FDA report to reflect recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences, which last year found no significant health risks from cloned animal products and did not recommend exceptional oversight.

If the FDA adopts the National Academy of Sciences position, it is not expected to require labels on cloned food.

Some consumer advocates said the FDA must first ease public concerns about cloned animals.

"Every poll shows the public is extremely leery of animal cloning," said Carol Tucker Foreman, food policy director for the Consumer Federation of America. "Even if the science is there, there is concern over the moral and ethical issues with cloning."

Mendelson said there were questions about whether cloning caused significant changes in the nutritional value of milk and meat, and noted such products should be labeled.

The FDA's was expected to be publish a summary of its preliminary report on its Web site at www.fda.gov.

The entire document is expected to be published early next week, industry sources said. The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine is due to discuss the issue at a public meeting on November 3-4.

Earlier this year, Japan said it found no abnormalities in meat or milk from cloned animals but called for creation of a system to deal with problems that might arise.

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