Don’t look for much food from the offspring of cloned animals at your neighborhood supermarket or restaurant any time soon. Despite Tuesday’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling that meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and other animals are safe for human consumption, it is going to take years to get them into the nation’s food chain. And many of America’s biggest grocers are already dead-set against it. “Our intention is not to accept cloned products from our suppliers,” says Meghan Glynn, spokeswoman for Kroger Co., the Cincinnati-based owner of Ralphs, Food4Less and several other chains. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc., the owner of Safeway and Vons, said it supported continuing what has been a voluntary ban on the use of cloned animals for food. “We are not looking to offer any cloned products in our stores,” spokesman Brian Dowling said. And California Pizza Kitchen, the 229-restaurant chain based in Los Angeles, says it “has no plans to provide our guests with cloned products.”
For now, cloned products will be limited to food derived from the offspring of clones. But food that comes from the offspring can be used for everything from the milkshakes served by restaurants to the steaks sold in supermarkets -- without any special labeling. “Oh, that’s creepy. I wouldn’t eat cloned food,” Patricia Schwarz of Pasadena, Calif. “A copy of a copy of a copy comes out pretty bad. I think it would be risky.” “It just seems unnatural,” said Laureen Hart of Moorpark, Calif. Other consumers are similarly cautious, experts say.
Companies will tap into anti-clone sentiment by marketing clone-free products. “Companies will try to grab profit and market share by saying their products aren’t cloned when actually most of the products in the marketplace won’t be cloned,” said Christine Bruhn, a University of California, Davis food-science marketing specialist. Still, some consumers are not rejecting food from cloned animals out of hand. “I just don’t know enough about the science,” said Sarah Lafare of Newport Beach, Calif. “I would need to know more.” Some restaurants are not ruling out the use of products from the offspring of clones, when they become available. “With regard to the issue of food cloning, we concur with the National Restaurant Association’s conclusion, which is one of support for this technology as long as the FDA has determined it to be safe,” said Stacy Roughan, spokeswoman for IHOP Corp., the parent company to the Applebee’s and IHOP restaurant chains. That might be a risky strategy. Retailers probably will see a strong consumer reaction against the use of food products from cloned animals, analysts say.
“Cloning is a lightning rod ... it has a science-fiction stigma,” said Dennis Krause, the food and agribusiness analyst and senior vice president at GE Corporate Lending. Restaurants, supermarkets and other food providers offering cloned milk and meat can expect a “visceral and emotional reaction” from consumers, he said. Even some suppliers are spooked by consumer antipathy for food from cloned animals and their offspring. “We won’t accept milk from cloned animals. Consumers don’t see it as a benefit,” said Marguerite Copel, spokeswoman for Dallas-based Dean Foods Co., which sells $11 billion of Alta Dena and Swiss milk brands and other foods. The concept of using cloning to produce food is counter to trends in the marketplace, where consumers are seeking more information about their food and where natural and organic products are one of the fastest growing segments, said Krause, the analyst.
In its report, the FDA said “there is no science-based reason to use labels to distinguish” between food derived from clones and that from conventional animals. In fact, people would most likely consume products from the offspring of clones, rather than clones themselves. That’s because the process of cloning is way too expensive -- at this point costing tens of thousands of dollar per copy. Cloning allows farmers to reproduce an animal with a particularly desirable characteristic: It might be of a certain, consistent size that works well for slaughter, making processing less expensive. It might contain higher-grade cuts of meat, or be a prodigious milk producer. Farmers would want more of these animals for breeding. The public would be consuming the meat and milk from these offspring.
Despite the strong stance by some retailers, they could still find themselves selling products from the offspring of cloned animals. “The lack of effective governmental oversight and tracking could mean consumers will lose the ability to choose clone-free products,” Whole Foods Market Inc. said in a statement. The chain added that it plans to provide its shoppers with clone-free products. Nestle USA, the American headquarters of the international food giant, said its policy “will rely on and respect the science and the conclusions of the regulatory authorities. ... We have not made any definitive decisions about cloned food at this time, so it would be premature to address questions about labeling.”
