brighten
seeker of knowledge
:salam2:
I shudder when I read this.
......................................
Can You Avoid Cloned Meat?
The FDA has released a formal recommendation to allow milk and meat from cloned animals on grocery store shelves, without labels indicating them as such. Many believe that the FDA should keep cloned foods off the market.
Clones are currently made by taking single cells taken from animals, growing the cell into an embryo in a laboratory, and then transferring the embryo to the womb of a surrogate mother animal. Relatively few cloned farm animals currently exist, but biotechnology companies are planning to clone animals which produce the most milk or the best-tasting meat.
Polls have found that as many as two-thirds of Americans, and three-quarters of American women, disapprove of cloning animals for food.
Los Angeles Times December 23, 2006
Washington Post December 25, 2006
Theriogenology January 1, 2007; 67(1): 198-206
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
You know that Monsanto will use every trick in the book to deceive you for their own benefit. One of their newest tricks is to use the Christmas holiday season when everyone is preoccupied with their family and celebration, so they could get the FDA to approve cloned milk and meats for sale in your neighborhood grocery store has happened as predicted.
They correctly realized that there would be little opposition to this during the hectic holiday season.
Unfortunately, if you eat beef from conventional sources, there's a possibility you've already eaten this type of*food, thanks to some ranchers who looked the other way when the FDA imposed a voluntary moratorium on cloned beef five years ago.
Some ranchers admit cloned cattle have made it into the food chain and, quite possibly, your dinner table.
The FDA is letting untested, laboratory-grown foods be crammed down your throat, whether you want them or not.
Although a majority of Americans still believe they've never eaten a genetically modified food -- at least 70 percent of the processed foods you'll find in a grocery store are made with them -- they really do care about where their foods come from. One of the big issues here is labeling; why aren't cloned foods and GM foods required to be labeled as such?
The only reason is to protect big business; they worry that if you knew the origins of your food, you wouldn't buy it -- and with good reason.
That's why finding local sources for your food remains your safest and best bet for protecting your health.
I recently reviewed this topic with Jeffrey Smith who is probably the leading expert in the US on GM foods and he had the following to say about GM labeling.
"GM labeling is voluntary, I believe this is meaningless. I haven't checked with the USDA yet, but I don't give it any credence. So here is my answer:
The only commercialized GM food crops are soy, corn, cottonseed, canola, Hawaiian papaya, zucchini and crookneck squash. There is also Quest brand tobacco and alfalfa used for animal feed.
When shopping for produce, you wouldn't buy cottonseed or canola oil, and probably not soybeans either. Only a small amount of sweet corn, zucchini and yellow squash have been genetically engineered, but since there is no labeling requirements in the US, you won't be able to tell in the supermarket.
You can always ask the produce manager to verify if these three are non-GMO, but he or she will likely have to check with the supplier, and that may take a few days.
As for papaya, more than half the fruit in Hawaii has been modified, and the GM varieties even get mixed up with the organic and non-GM varieties. To be safe, therefore, you may want to only buy papaya grown elsewhere, since Hawaii is the only place currently using GM papaya seeds.
Years ago, GM tomatoes and potatoes were taken off the market, and due to contamination from an experimental field trial, there is a tiny amount of GM rice contamination in the US rice supply.
There are some enzymes and additives created from GM bacteria, fungi and yeast, which are harder to avoid since they are not listed on the labels. One exception of GM ingredient that is listed is Aspartame, the sweetener that many believe is linked with several serious diseases.
Also, there are dairy products from cows treated with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Look for labels that say no hormones are used.
And in all cases, organic standards do not allow the use of GM inputs."
Vital Votes reader Tom from Grandview , Ohio , says:
"From what I gather from the news outlets, cloned meats are coming, like it or not. I am amazed that our 'protectors' of food safety are pushing to declare something created in the lab (cloned animal meat and milk) safe, yet declare natural raw milk (nature's own whole food) unsafe for human consumption.
"Indeed, why do they have to say anything at all? Wouldn't it be better for the FDA to simply state: 'Natural vs. cloned livestock may or may not be the same. The two appear to be identical, but we are not God, thus we do not know with absolute certainty.
We, therefore, declare that cloned livestock products may be legally marketed to an informed public, and must be labeled accurately for consumer selection, or rejection as deemed through consumer choice.'
"Maybe they would approve raw milk if it were to come from a cloned cow whose system is full of steroids, antibiotics, BGH's and what-not. In fact, I'll bet if they added flouride to the cow's water supply they would create an even cooler monster.***** (...'Boowah- ha-ha-ha- ha-ha-ha! '...)
"We must reject on principal cloned products through consumer choice. If they make it so we are denied our right to reject it by mixing it in with regular meat, then reject it all. The market will eventually cave under its loses. Even if it were true that there is virtually zero difference between cloned and natural beef, our right to discriminate about our food should remain paramount in importance.
"I know how I'm going to handle this coming situation. Do you?"
I shudder when I read this.
......................................
Can You Avoid Cloned Meat?
The FDA has released a formal recommendation to allow milk and meat from cloned animals on grocery store shelves, without labels indicating them as such. Many believe that the FDA should keep cloned foods off the market.
Clones are currently made by taking single cells taken from animals, growing the cell into an embryo in a laboratory, and then transferring the embryo to the womb of a surrogate mother animal. Relatively few cloned farm animals currently exist, but biotechnology companies are planning to clone animals which produce the most milk or the best-tasting meat.
Polls have found that as many as two-thirds of Americans, and three-quarters of American women, disapprove of cloning animals for food.
Los Angeles Times December 23, 2006
Washington Post December 25, 2006
Theriogenology January 1, 2007; 67(1): 198-206
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
You know that Monsanto will use every trick in the book to deceive you for their own benefit. One of their newest tricks is to use the Christmas holiday season when everyone is preoccupied with their family and celebration, so they could get the FDA to approve cloned milk and meats for sale in your neighborhood grocery store has happened as predicted.
They correctly realized that there would be little opposition to this during the hectic holiday season.
Unfortunately, if you eat beef from conventional sources, there's a possibility you've already eaten this type of*food, thanks to some ranchers who looked the other way when the FDA imposed a voluntary moratorium on cloned beef five years ago.
Some ranchers admit cloned cattle have made it into the food chain and, quite possibly, your dinner table.
The FDA is letting untested, laboratory-grown foods be crammed down your throat, whether you want them or not.
Although a majority of Americans still believe they've never eaten a genetically modified food -- at least 70 percent of the processed foods you'll find in a grocery store are made with them -- they really do care about where their foods come from. One of the big issues here is labeling; why aren't cloned foods and GM foods required to be labeled as such?
The only reason is to protect big business; they worry that if you knew the origins of your food, you wouldn't buy it -- and with good reason.
That's why finding local sources for your food remains your safest and best bet for protecting your health.
I recently reviewed this topic with Jeffrey Smith who is probably the leading expert in the US on GM foods and he had the following to say about GM labeling.
"GM labeling is voluntary, I believe this is meaningless. I haven't checked with the USDA yet, but I don't give it any credence. So here is my answer:
The only commercialized GM food crops are soy, corn, cottonseed, canola, Hawaiian papaya, zucchini and crookneck squash. There is also Quest brand tobacco and alfalfa used for animal feed.
When shopping for produce, you wouldn't buy cottonseed or canola oil, and probably not soybeans either. Only a small amount of sweet corn, zucchini and yellow squash have been genetically engineered, but since there is no labeling requirements in the US, you won't be able to tell in the supermarket.
You can always ask the produce manager to verify if these three are non-GMO, but he or she will likely have to check with the supplier, and that may take a few days.
As for papaya, more than half the fruit in Hawaii has been modified, and the GM varieties even get mixed up with the organic and non-GM varieties. To be safe, therefore, you may want to only buy papaya grown elsewhere, since Hawaii is the only place currently using GM papaya seeds.
Years ago, GM tomatoes and potatoes were taken off the market, and due to contamination from an experimental field trial, there is a tiny amount of GM rice contamination in the US rice supply.
There are some enzymes and additives created from GM bacteria, fungi and yeast, which are harder to avoid since they are not listed on the labels. One exception of GM ingredient that is listed is Aspartame, the sweetener that many believe is linked with several serious diseases.
Also, there are dairy products from cows treated with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Look for labels that say no hormones are used.
And in all cases, organic standards do not allow the use of GM inputs."
Vital Votes reader Tom from Grandview , Ohio , says:
"From what I gather from the news outlets, cloned meats are coming, like it or not. I am amazed that our 'protectors' of food safety are pushing to declare something created in the lab (cloned animal meat and milk) safe, yet declare natural raw milk (nature's own whole food) unsafe for human consumption.
"Indeed, why do they have to say anything at all? Wouldn't it be better for the FDA to simply state: 'Natural vs. cloned livestock may or may not be the same. The two appear to be identical, but we are not God, thus we do not know with absolute certainty.
We, therefore, declare that cloned livestock products may be legally marketed to an informed public, and must be labeled accurately for consumer selection, or rejection as deemed through consumer choice.'
"Maybe they would approve raw milk if it were to come from a cloned cow whose system is full of steroids, antibiotics, BGH's and what-not. In fact, I'll bet if they added flouride to the cow's water supply they would create an even cooler monster.***** (...'Boowah- ha-ha-ha- ha-ha-ha! '...)
"We must reject on principal cloned products through consumer choice. If they make it so we are denied our right to reject it by mixing it in with regular meat, then reject it all. The market will eventually cave under its loses. Even if it were true that there is virtually zero difference between cloned and natural beef, our right to discriminate about our food should remain paramount in importance.
"I know how I'm going to handle this coming situation. Do you?"
