Cloning Issue Prompts New Legislation; IDFA Seeks Member Input for Comments to FDA

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) release on December 28 of its draft Risk Assessment on the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals has prompted several calls for legislation at both the state and national level. Last Friday, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) introduced the Cloned Food Labeling Act (S. 414), which would require special labels on all foods derived from cloned animals, including milk from cloned cows and their progeny. IDFA is reviewing the proposed legislation and will provide an analysis for members soon. To read the senator's press release, click here.

In addition, several states have introduced legislation that would require mandatory labeling or a moratorium. (Members can click here to see State News.)

IDFA opposes the Mikulski bill and all calls at this time for mandatory labeling. Such efforts are premature and unnecessary for consumer education; they also could cause serious economic hardship to milk and dairy companies regardless of whether they will ever use milk from cloned cows in their products.

IDFA believes that the FDA should be allowed to complete its review of milk and meat from cloned animals before any labeling legislation is considered. FDA’s moratorium on milk and meat from cloned animals remains in place during this review.

IDFA plans to submit comments to FDA on the draft Risk Assessment, Risk Management and Guidance documents on the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals. The 90-day public comment period will end April 2. IDFA is organizing an ad hoc group of member companies that will participate in the drafting and review of these comments and invites interested members to contact Clay Hough, IDFA senior vice president, at 202-220-3516 or chough@idfa.org. The draft comments also will be reviewed by all board members of IDFA, the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA) before they are submitted to FDA.

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Posted January 29, 2007