Japan Government Food Panel Says Products from Cloned Cows, Pigs are Safe
Japan Economic Newswire
04:12 PM
Beef and pork products from somatic cell-cloned cows, pigs and their offspring are as safe as those from conventionally bred animals, the Japanese government’s food risk assessment body said in a report Thursday.
The Food Safety Commission, a body under the Cabinet Office, will soon file the report with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, officials said.
The health ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will look at the commission’s report and decide whether to allow products from cloned animals to be put on the market, they said.
However, the ban on such products is not expected to be lifted immediately due to persistent opposition from various groups.
Japanese producers and dealers have imposed a voluntary ban on the distribution of domestically produced beef and pork products from cloned animals in response to a request from the farm ministry.
There have been no confirmed cases of imported beef and pork products from cloned animals being put on the Japanese market.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in January 2008 that products from cloned cows, pigs and goats are as safe for human consumption as products from conventionally bred animals. The European Food Safety Authority later followed the United States.
Following the moves in the United States and Europe, the seven-member food safety panel launched studies in April 2008 on the safety of products from cloned animals, acting upon a request from the health ministry.
In March, the Food Safety Commission, a body that undertakes risk assessment and is independent of the farm and health ministries, compiled a draft report stating beef and pork from cloned animals pose no safety problems with regard to human consumption.