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January 15, 2008 Vegetarians will probably shrug their shoulders but Canadian meat eaters may soon have another reason to hate the SPP: cloned meat. A new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report claims that meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as that from "normal" animals, according to a January 15 CTV news story. It's so safe, in fact, that there is no reason to label these cloned food products as such. Meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones are "as safe as food we eat every day," says the FDA. The CTV story adds that, "when the market is ready for cloned meat and dairy, it will not require special labeling or other additional measures, 'because food derived from these sources is no different from food derived from conventionally bred animals.'" The U.S. report comes a week after a the European Food Safety Authority also approved the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals. "As for Canada, a spokesman for Health Canada said there are currently no foods from cloned animals approved for sale in Canada," reported CTV. But Agence France Press reported on January 4 that, "Regulators in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan and New Zealand, which already have livestock clones, although they rarely enter the food chain, would be closely watching the FDA decision." Furthermore, as reported by Rick Weiss of the Washington Post, "The safety of products from cloned animals is still under study in Canada, according to Health Canada's website." Unfortunately, there may be no reason for Canada to continue its study considering the extent of its collaboration with the United States on a common regulatory approach to food and consumer product safety. "Canada is also committed to working with the United States and Mexico through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, to strengthen our existing cooperation to identify and stop unsafe food and consumer products before they enter our shared continent," writes Health Canada in its proposed new Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan. "We will collaborate to ensure the compatibility of our related regulatory and inspection regimes." Health Canada has opened up its food safety plan for public consultation. Click here to read a full discussion paper. You should know the Security and Prosperity Partnership commits Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to establishing a North American food safety coordinating mechanism. "This initiative includes: cooperating in the design and development of common standards; reviewing existing food safety standards to identify and assess, on a scientific basis, differences with a view to removing, where warranted and appropriate, those identified differences; sharing of information on food safety matters; collaborating effectively in the development of national positions for international food safety standard-setting bodies." Given the U.S.-based Biotechnology Industry Organization's endorsement of the FDA's decision on food products derived from cloned animals, it should also be noted that the SPP has as another key initiative, "Continue to support the cooperative effort within North American Biotechnology Initiative for the initiation, coordination and prioritization of various biotech activities." These include to "work toward developing common approaches for regulatory policies related to products of biotechnology," and to "cooperate and share information on international biotechnology activities."
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