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Canadians could soon be eating products from cloned cattle and swine without knowing it, as Health Canada makes moves to eliminate mandatory labelling and notification.
The agency last year proposed removing foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloned cattle and swine and their offspring from its list of “novel foods,” saying that scientific opinion had concluded such foods were “as safe as foods from traditionally bred animals.”
Excluding these foods from the “novel food” category eliminates the requirement for mandatory pre-market safety assessments and the need for sellers to submit detailed information to the health minister for approval before sale, as stipulated by Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations.
“Based on the conclusions of the scientific opinion, Health Canada’s Food Directorate determined these foods should be regulated in the same manner as those from traditionally bred animals,” reads the proposed revised policy, published on March 26, 2024.
“Consequently, foods derived from SCNT cloned cattle and swine and their offspring will no longer be considered novel foods and as such are no longer subject to pre-market notification under … the Food and Drug Regulations.”
Animal cloning is a process that creates a genetic twin of the original animal. It involves forming an embryo by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized egg cell from a female animal with the nucleus of a somatic (non-reproductive) cell from another animal. The embryo is then transferred to a surrogate, where it continues to develop until birth.
Livestock breeders use cloning to create copies of animals with desirable traits, such as disease resistance, or meat or milk quality, according to Health Canada.
It is unclear whether the new policy has taken effect, since the foods in question would no longer need to be labelled as such, and Health Canada’s March 26, 2024, notice of the proposed policy provides no implementation date.
Health Canada confirmed it received an Epoch Times’ inquiry about whether the revised policy is in effect but did not provide a response by publication time. A June 14, 2024, public consultation notice said the updated policy would take effect by fall 2024 if no new scientific evidence arose. The consultation was held between March 26 and May 25, 2024.
The policy revision would apply only to foods from cloned cattle and swine. Foods derived from other cloned animals, such as goats and sheep, would still be considered novel.
Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)–an advocacy group that has objected to the policy change–told The Epoch Times that it has learned that Health Canada intends to release a report summarizing the consultation results, along with the revised policy, later this month.
Concerns About Cloned Meat
CBAN last year issued a joint letter with non-profit organizations Vigilance OGM and The Non-GMO Project, calling the proposal to remove cloned meat from the novel foods list “premature and unnecessary.”
The groups expressed concern about gaps in scientific research on cloning technologies, the potential risks to human health from consuming cloned meat, and the lack of transparency they say would result if pre-market safety assessments and notifications were no longer required for these products.
“We remain concerned that, as acknowledged in the Scientific Opinion, the origins and mechanisms of animal health problems associated with SCNT cloning, such as lower rates of reproductive success, altered birth weights and higher organ failure rates, ‘are not completely understood’,” they wrote.
“Uncertainty remains and, at a minimum, needs to be addressed through continued government oversight and monitoring.”
SCNT animal clones and their offspring are considered “new” living organisms under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, making them subject to pre-manufacture and import assessment requirements under the New Substances Notification Regulations. Health Canada said last year it was working with Environment Canada to propose exempting cattle and swine clones from these requirements.
Health Canada’s Position
Health Canada first classified foods derived from cloned animals as novel foods in 2003, noting that the technology was still in the research and development stage and that its effects on food safety and quality remained unclear.
Health Canada began to work with other federal agencies that same year, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the environment department, to gather and evaluate scientific information on the safety of cattle and swine clones.
The agencies published a paper in November 2023, describing it as a scientific opinion on the impact of cloning in food and feed safety, animal health, and the environment. The document concluded that cloned animals, their offspring, and derived products are “no different” from naturally reproduced animals.
“Based on the available scientific information, the apparent impact of SCNT technologies in healthy cattle and swine populations in Canada is not expected to be different from those used in conventionally bred animals with respect to food and feed safety, animal health, and impact on the environment—including impacts on biodiversity—and indirect human health effects,” reads the document.
It notes that clones exhibit “higher incidences” of birth defects, malformations, and pregnancy-related complications compared to conventionally bred animals, but these issues “do not appear to be present” in the offspring of cloned cattle and swine.
The document adds that while there is “little empirical data” on animal health and food safety for livestock clones of advanced age, new data on these factors “are not expected” to cause concern about cattle and swine clones.
The document says the scientific opinion aims to serve as the basis for updating or developing new science-based policies, adding that non-science policy issues, like ethical and trade implications, would be addressed separately.
Health Canada says in its 2024 policy proposal that the idea to regulate food products from cloned cattle and swine as conventional foods is based on the conclusions of the scientific opinion. If the policy change is implemented, manufacturers, producers, and importers would be responsible for ensuring these products comply with all applicable legislation.
Canadian pork supplier duBreton raised the alarm about the upcoming policy changes, saying the removal for mandatory labelling would decrease transparency for Canadians.
“Consumers have the right to decide for themselves,” said CEO Vincent Breton in a Nov. 3 press release, adding that “changing the definition of a novel food, means that unless it’s labelled organic, there is no way to distinguish brands that support animal cloning–from brands that don’t.”
“People want and deserve to know that,” he added.