Lawmakers and consumers ask FDA to delay cloning ruling

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration should delay a decision on whether milk and meat from some cloned animals are safe to eat until additional safety studies can be conducted, a Democratic lawmaker and consumer groups said in separate statements on Tuesday.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, who chairs the U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Food and Drug Administration, said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach that there is not enough data to prove consuming products from cloned animals is safe.

"Both the House and the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committees strongly encourage the FDA to obtain more information and conduct additional studies before acting further on this issue," she said in the letter.

The $515.7 billion bill that passed the House of Representatives late Monday directs the FDA to complete further review and analysis before issuing a final decision on cloning. A similar measure was included in the farm bill that passed in the Senate last week.

Separately, the Biotechnology Industry Organization said two of the country's largest cloning companies will announce on Wednesday a registry to allow food companies to identify where cloned animals are located in the country.

A draft ruling by the FDA last December would for the first time allow the sale of food made from cloned cattle, pigs and goats. A final decision from FDA is expected in the next few weeks.

Cloning animals involves taking the nuclei of cells from adults and fusing them into egg cells that are implanted into a surrogate mother.

At present, these products cannot be sold, and the ban remains in place until a final ruling is issued.