Food Cloning Essay

Food cloning is a very controversial topic to be discussed because of the large number of disagreements associated with it. Just like anything else in the world, it has positive and negative sides to it. The consumers all over the world only see the negative side. It is time that they now witness the benefits that cloned food brings along with it. This paper will outline these controversies and will describe how the media portrays them. It will also demonstrate the effect of food cloning on our culture, if there is any, and will highlight what this new technology can do for man’s future. Discussion Food cloning is basically obtaining food from cloned animals. How exactly does this work? It is as simple as this. Biotech companies clone animals such as cows, pigs and goats etc by taking the nuclei of cells from adults and combining them into other egg cells from which the nuclei have been extracted. Using this method, a large number of livestock have already been cloned for sale to producers (Reuters, 2003). The first cloned animal that was ever produced was a sheep in 1997. Since then, this technology has become more common and common with time. Because of this reason, the Food and Drug Authority asserted its control over cloning (Patel & Rushefsky, 2002). Food cloning is a controversial topic since the time cloning of animals was introduced in 1997. Consumer groups all over the world want authorities to look in ethical and moral issues that are associated with cloning. People are not accepting this new technology and the benefits that come with it for a variety of reasons and controversies. The controversies largely have to do with the degree of safety of the meat, milk and other food products that are obtained from these cloned animals. Why is safety an issue? The answer to this question is obvious. Man is once again trying to intervene with nature and this may not give out the best results because man is subject to errors. Therefore, man will never be able to produce or reproduce animals and food products exactly like the ones present naturally with the help of science and technology and this difference is the main health concern of authorities all over the world. Another reason why cloned food is considered unsafe is that cloned animals usually have higher death rate, low life expectancy and are more prone to diseases (Poulter, 2008). Other safety issues that are considered to pose include the possibility of causing allergic reactions in human and unexpected genetic effects, altering of significant nutrients that are required, containing higher level of toxicants, reducing the effects of antibiotics, and others (Gralla, & Gralla, 2004). After the famous Mary Shelly’s story in which she creates a Frankenstein, people have started to associate cloned animals with that as well. They fear that just like the Frankenstein turned against its creator, the food products obtained from cloned animals may also back fire. They think that just like the Frankenstein turned out to be harmful, cloned food products will also turn out to be harmful. Because of these health concerns, consumers all over are getting worried and concerned regarding whether of not the food products they are having are cloned or not. According to a source, companies now want their produced food products to be labeled as â€Å"clone free† so that their consumers can buy and consume food products without having to worry about safety issues. We can take the example of Ben and Jerry’s. Because of this non acceptance of the consumers, Ben and Jerry’s which is a popular ice cream producing company want to ensure their customers through media that the ice cream they produce comes from normal cows and not clones (The Associated Press, 2008). The media has a huge role to play in this. It made the debate regarding food cloning very open and all the concerns were right there in front of the consumers. Despite being confirmed as safe by the government, cloned food will not be accepted by consumers. However, the reality may be a lot different from this perception that the general public has regarding cloned food. Various legal authorities have given a green light to the use of cloned food as they consider it safe. These include the government, scientists and agencies like the Food and Drug Administration are using media to affirm the fact that there is no difference in food products from cloned animals and from conventional livestock. Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine announced that â€Å"meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day,† Both cloned and natural foods are equally safe and this also goes for the food obtained from off springs of cloned animals (The Associated Press, 2008). They say that there is nothing in the world that is completely natural, therefore there is no reason to stop when it comes to food and not use science and technology to use ways in which abundant food can be made available and that too at better quality. An example of potatoes is given. It is said that potatoes are not edible in their natural form as they are poisonous. Only after selective breeding, they are made edible (Crompton, 2007). Another point put forward to counter the argument of cloned animals being more prone to diseases and having a lower expectancy age is that the milk and meat obtained from cloned animals while they are healthy and alive will not harm the consumers in any way. Therefore there is no reason to be scared to consume such foods. The government and agencies like FDA have confirmed the safety of the foods but still the businesses are not ready to use cloned animals for their products. They fear that if they use such animals, they will have to label their products as ‘cloned’ and because of this people will not go for this product. However, their fear is logical because people are not ready as yet. We are living in a world where the population is increasing at a very rapid exponential rate. This increasing population will eventually demand food and the rate at which we are using up all our resources, it is predicted that very soon man will not have a lot to eat. We need to find better and newer ways which enable that we have abundant food supply for everyone in the world. Biotechnology is a new field that has been grown because of this. Cloned food is something that has been developed as a result. There were health concerns in the past regarding cloned food, but since now the government and other authorities like FDA have confirmed the safety of food obtained from cloned animals, we consumers must learn to accept it as in near future, this food will become a necessity and out only option. Conclusion In conclusion, I would once again like to emphasize on the need to accept such technologies. Food cloning was considered unsafe in the past because it is something new. Everything new has to go through a testing stage until it can be made ready to use. Similarly, food cloning has undergone the testing stage and it is now safe and ready to use. It is no longer the Frankenstein that it was once considered and because of this it has been made legal all over the world. References The Associated Press (2008) Cloned food may prompt ‘clone-free’ labels. Retrieved, 4 Oct, 2008, from MSNBC. Web site: http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/16383458/ Crompton, S. (2007) Frankenstein’s monsters or the future of food? Retrieved, 4 Oct, 2008, from Times Online. Web site: http://women. timesonline. co. uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article1461151. ece Gralla, J. D. & Preston Gralla (2004) Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Cloning. Alpha Books. Patel, K. & Mark E. Rushefsky (2002) Health Care Policy in an Age of New Technologies. M. E. Sharpe. Poulter, S (2008) EU gives green light for cloned food to go on sale in UK shops. Retrieved, 4 Oct, 2008, from Daily Mail Online. Web site: http://www. dailymail. co. uk/health/article-507700/EU-gives-green-light-cloned-food-sale-UK-shops. html Reuters (2003) Cloned Food OK by FDA. Retrieved, 4 Oct, 2008, from Wired. Web site: http://www. wired. com/techbiz/media/news/2003/10/61038