The cloning issue leads a February 2 AP article to shed light on the relationship of USDA Organic label and GM foods.
The article Organic seal may soon mean ‘clone-free,’ too - Meat, milk from cloned animals won’t get their own warning label addresses labeling standards and public acceptance of cloned animal products in the food supply.
The article states that GM foods are not allowed in products carrying the USDA Organic label.
But the key facts may be those describing how the FDA built a de-facto loophole into organic standards which could allow cloned animal products to be labeled organic.
Near the end of the piece are these little nuggets:
“The Agriculture Department was asked to address cloning when the organic standards were written, a process that drew comments from more than 300,000 people and organizations. The standards, which took effect in 2002, do not mention clones or their offspring; instead, they say genetic engineering is not allowed.”
“Department officials say cloning is forbidden in organic animals. The process is incompatible with the standards, says Lloyd Day, head of the Agricultural Marketing Service, which governs the organic industry. The department still must decide whether the offspring of cloned animals are allowed, Day said.”
“Cloning companies disagree. They note the FDA says cloning is not genetic engineering. The idea of genetic engineering is to take away or add genes, while cloning leaves the gene sequence intact.”
“Rather, FDA says cloning is a technology that help animals reproduce, similar to in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination. And in vitro fertilization is allowed under organic production rules.”
“The government has asked producers to voluntarily keep clones away from the food supply until final approval is granted.”
Italics mine…
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