Home » Health » Europe Says NO to Cloned Food; US OKs

Europe Says NO to Cloned Food; US OKs

  • Spence Cooper
  • July 9, 2010

The European Parliament has requested a ban on the sale of foods from cloned animals and their offspring; they’ve also called for a temporary suspension of the sale of food containing ingredients derived from nanotechnology.

“Although no safety concerns have been identified so far with meat produced from cloned animals, this technique raises serious issues about animal welfare, reduction of biodiversity, as well as ethical concerns,”said Corinne Lepage, a French member of the European Parliament.

But the USA, with scant media coverage, approved cloning over two years ago — and these cloned animal knockoffs aren’t even required to be labeled at the supermarket, neither is nano-food which uses nanoparticles — a microscopic particle smaller than 100nm — that can be programmed to prevent your body from digesting or absorbing the fats and sugars.

As consumers, we are now forced to contend with food from cloned animals, nano-food products, and daily food recalls. The unsavory and secretive state of food production in America has become a second rate science fiction film nightmare. For all we know, we’ll soon be eating Soylent Green.

In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration approved as safe for consumption, meat and milk from cloned animals. The Department of Agriculture has placed a moratorium on clones, but not their offspring. Additionally, no special “clone” label is required on products from clones or the cloned offspring.

Untested nanotechnology is also being used in more than 100 US food products, food packaging and contact materials currently on the shelf without warning or FDA testing.

The properties of nanoparticles are governed by quantum mechanics, yet nanoparticles can be found today in the produce section of large grocery store chains and vegetable wholesalers.

Supermarkets currently stock an unknown amount of nano-food products, and there is no mandatory product labeling requirement in the U.S.

Although the FDA denies nano-food products are sold in the U.S., some of the agency’s own safety experts dispute the FDA’s official claim and reference scientific studies published in food science journals, and foreign food safety reports.

Central and South American farms and packers ship fruits and vegetables into the U.S. and Canada that are coated with a thin, wax-like nanocoating to extend shelf-life. The edible nanomaterial skin extends the color and flavor of the fruit.

Engineered nanoparticles are in salad dressings, sauces, diet beverages, boxed cake, muffin, and pancakes mixes.

Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have shown that nanoparticles pose potential risks to human health; among the risks are possible DNA damage that can lead to cancer and heart and brain disease.

Labeling should be mandatory for all food from cloned animals and nanofood products and packaging (in which nanoparticles may enter the body through food). The public has a right to know what they are ingesting into their bodies and the FDA should be held accountable for their silence.

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