30 January 2006

Ask consumers if they want clones on their menu - Greens

The Green Party is calling on the Government to reject the New Zealand Food Safety Authority's advice that there need be no specific regulation or labelling of cloned food.

"Before it can be sold to New Zealand consumers, cloned meat and milk must go through a proper risk assessment for novel foods, similar to that undertaken for genetically engineered food. There must also be full public consultation on the issue," Greens' Safe Food Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.

"There are significant ethical and animal welfare considerations, that should be considered as part of any assessment.

"More than 90 percent of first generation cloned animals are born dead or with deformities, or die shortly after birth. I believe most consumers would be appalled to realise just how many animals are sacrificed to produce cloned meat. I don't think most would believe that a process that kills so many animals is either ethical or acceptable," Ms Kedgley says.

"European Union regulators are insisting that cloned meat go through the same novel assessment process as genetically modified food goes through, and we should do the same.

"I suspect the authority realises that most consumers would be repelled by the idea of eating cloned meat and drinking cloned milk, and would demand that at the very least it be labelled. So it is trying to evade public scrutiny on the subject and get approval without any public consultation," Mrs Kedgley says.

Cloning involves taking the nucleus, where most of the genetic information to make the offspring is, from one cell and putting it into another cell which has had its nucleus removed.

The idea is to transfer the nucleus from an animal with the particular characteristics that are wanted, such as higher milk production or lower fat content in meat. It is possible to transfer nuclei from many cells in the animal with the desired characteristics so increasing the rate at which the desired characteristic can be obtained in all the animals in a flock or herd.'

"Cloned meat must go through a novel foods approval process, similar to that undertaken for genetically engineered food. There must also be full public consultation on the issue, and the public must be fully involved in the process," Ms Kedgley says.

ENDS

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